The Nine Circles of Hell
by rhapsodizing riyoko
Summary: CHAPTER 16 UP! COMPLETE!A violinist dies after attempting to play a violin composition made by her master.Class Q investigates.The death is a murder...can Class Q stop the killer in time?There's only ONE ANSWER!Better summary inside.
1. A Cursed Concerto!

**This will probably be one of the most complicated DDS cases I've ever come up with. This is going to be pretty interesting, I tell you. Dedicated to all the musically-inclined people out there. **

**I'd like to thank Zephy, first of all, for inspiring me to make this fic about violins, and convincing me to download "The Devil's Trill", a violin piece that truly sparked this idea in me. **

**Credits go to my English class for all the information I learned about Hell and its interpretation in "The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri.**

**Warning: this fic contains an OC as a new member of Class Q. possible Kyu/Meg pairing. And also be warned of crappy writing and sucky chapters. **

**Background information on the fic (this is all from my own ideas):**

"**The Nine Circles of Hell" is a violin concerto of Maestro Maeda, who died precisely when he was putting the last note in the composition. The concerto consists of nine movements, each representing the nine circles that Hell is rumored to contain. Since he died at such an unexpected moment, just when the last note was written, the piece was never played in full. One of his students, a girl named Fumika, attempted, in a show of bravery, to play the entire piece. Tragically, she was found dead the next day in the music room, causing everyone in the school to declare the composition a cursed one.**

**Class Q, with their musically-talented member, Shizuko (my OC), has come to the Maestro's mansion which doubles as his music school, to investigate the death. As soon as a murder is apparent, and none believe in this theory, Shizuko has taken up the challenge of playing "The Nine Circles of Hell", to prove that it is not a curse that took the life of the student, but a killer. Doing this is a risk to her life and to the lives of Class Q…**

**Can Kyu and Ryuu combine their incredible deductive minds to solve this case this case and stop the killer before it's too late? Will the Class's lives be in jeopardy? There's only…ONE ANSWER!**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q.

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**And sorry for such a long intro. But everything was important…. **

**Chapter 1: A Cursed Concerto**

"There's been a _what_?"

Kyu stared at Mr. Dan, who was looking at him bemusedly from his wheelchair.

"There has been a death at a music school that used to be run by Maestro Maeda," repeated their principal.

"'Used to be'?" echoed Ryuu seriously.

"Yes. Maestro Maeda passed away only a few weeks ago. It was a natural death, since he was getting quite old, and he was suffering from an illness at the time. However, something strange surrounds his death.

"He died peacefully in his room, just as he was putting the very last note in a violin concerto he was composing. He'd been working on it for quite some time, and at the very hour of his death, he finished it.

"The composition was called 'The Nine Circles of Hell'."

Ryuu gave a start, and Shizuko gasped quietly.

Not taking any notice, Principal Dan continued. "That piece was supposed to be the greatest masterpiece of his life. They say it was one reason he kept himself alive, forcing himself just to finish it. The finished concerto consisted of nine different movements that melded into one another smoothly. Each movement captured the very characteristic of each circle of Hell. However, since he died at such an inopportune moment, the entire composition was never played in full."

Class Q looked at each other.

"But this is not the death that you are going to investigate."

"Huh?" said Kinta.

"One of the Maestro's students, Fumika, was found dead in their music room. Several other students found her body in the room. She was holding her violin, as though she had been playing it before she died. Music sheets were scattered around her…and as the students read took a look at what she had been playing, it turned out to be…the Maestro's composition."

Class Q looked stunned.

"This incident has caused most of the students to fall into panic, and declare the music a cursed one. Possibly in their shock, they thought about this idea immediately; what else could they come up with? Fortunately, someone didn't believe in this notion, and alerted the DDS. In light of that request, Class Q, I would like you to go to this music school. I believe your new classmate would be of help to you on this case," said Mr. Dan, motioning to Shizuko, who was sitting in a far corner of the room. "I take it that you're still as gifted with music the same way you did the day you presented yourself to DDS?"

"Of course, sir," she said respectfully.

"All right then. Class Q, are you ready?"

The young detectives stood up as one. "Yes, sir!"

* * *

Class Q, having packed and readied for their trip the night before, was now on their way to Maestro Maeda's music school.

"So, since the maestro's died, who's running the school now?" asked Kyu as they walked down a dirt path through a small patch of trees.

"I read about this death in the Obituaries section of the newspaper," said Meg, turning to him. "Somewhere along that, it was mentioned that someone's been put temporarily in charge of the school…"

"Temporarily?" asked Ryuu.

"That's right. Someone named Ms. Minamoto. Aside from being an extremely talented violinist, she's also one of the maestro's old friends. However, there was some dispute between them about who would inherit his master violin. Ms. Minamoto believed that there wasn't a student in the school worthy of it, and that she would keep it until she believed that someone was found…however, the maestro had already come to a decision he wouldn't reveal. He died without telling anyone who the violin would go to."

"Aside from that, I don't think it was only the violin in question. The matter of the school being _temporarily_ held in someone else's care bothers me," said Kazuma.

"Do you think that whoever inherits that violin will be next to take over that school? Under special care by someone of course, until the person is ready," said Kinta thoughtfully.

"That's likely," said Ryuu.

"So that means there's a will of some sort, right?" said Kyu.

"Well, there was a will mentioned," said Meg. "I think this is why Mr. Dan sent us out right away…"

"What makes you say that?" asked Shizuko, adjusting the violin case on her shoulder.

"Well, if my memory serves me right—"

"Which it always does," interrupted Kinta, grinning.

Meg smiled sheepishly, then continued, "Something was mentioned in the paper about the reading of his will. I think it's today."

"What? Really?" said Kyu, surprised.

"Yeah," replied Meg.

"So _that's_ why he wanted us to get on this case quickly. He wanted us to hear what the will contained," said Ryuu.

"Yeah, most likely it's going to be very closely connected to our case."

"Speaking of cases," said Kyu, turning to Shizuko, "Is that your violin case you're carrying, Shizuko?"

"Well, yes," said Shizuko, taking off the strap. She unzipped it, explaining, "This violin case is a bit more modern than the ones most violinists carry." She opened it to reveal a beautiful violin.

The rest of Class Q (with the exception of Ryuu), went "Ooooh" at the sight of the instrument.

Shizuko rolled her eyes toward heaven as Kyu, Kinta and Kazuma, er, _admired_ the violin from all possible angles. At one point it nearly fell, but Kinta caught it just in time. She sighed in relief, then winced moments later as a single high-pitched note resonated from Kyu's clumsy handling.

Suddenly, she frowned, thinking.

"What's the matter?" asked Kyu, handing the violin back.

"Oh. Well, it's just the title of the piece that the maestro composed. 'The Nine Circles of Hell'. And nine movements, blending together in perfect harmony. He really went through a lot to finish it. One could almost assume that he signed a Faustian deal in order to complete his life's work…"

"And that's probably a reason why the rumor about the cursed violin piece began. But considering how many students are probably in that school, I doubt that _everyone_ would believe such a thing…" said Ryuu.

"What's with this 'Nine Circles of Hell' thing anyway? What's it about?" asked Kinta, scratching his head.

"Well, it's based on this book written by an Italian author named Dante," Shizuko began. "The book's called 'The Divine Comedy', and there's a part there that describes Hell…and that part is called 'Inferno'."

"It describes Hell as consisting of _nine_ circles, and as you go deeper into Hell the circles get narrower and narrower, forming an inverted cone-like shape," continued Ryuu, picking up from where Shizuko left off.

"But why the circles? And how can you even _get_ deeper into Hell? I thought it'd be like just one big place," asked Kinta.

"Well, depending on what life you lived on earth, you'd either go into Heaven, Purgatory, or yes, Hell," said Ryuu. "If you ended up in Hell, well, then..."

"You'd end up in a circle of Hell where the sins that you committed on earth would be justified…in other words, you'd get punished for all eternity. And each circle of Hell contains a different breed of sinners, suffering," said Shizuko.

"The First Circle is the least painful," said Ryuu. "But to end up in the ninth…"

"…would be complete torture," finished Shizuko.

"What's in the ninth circle?" asked Kazuma.

"Well, the ninth and final circle contains the worst sinners of all," said Ryuu. "Betrayers and traitors."

"I thought murderers were the worst," said Kyu.

"Well, considering that murderers end up in the seventh circle of Hell, it's pretty bad, too," said Shizuko. "Violent beings end up in the seventh: Violent against themselves, the suicidal; violent against others, killers; and violent against God, blasphemers…"

"Is there a circle of Hell for perverts?" asked Meg pointedly.

"Well, perversion is kind of like an intense want for desires, so they'd end up in the second circle, where the carnal and lustful are," said Ryuu.

"You hear _that_, Kyu?" said Kinta, grinning widely.

"W-what! But you're the one who really likes to peek on girls!" Kyu protested.

"What about all those times you peeked under Meg's skirt?" said Kazuma.

"What about _that_ time you peeked at her bra size?" said Kyu, turning on Kazuma.

Ryuu and Shizuko looked at each other exasperatedly as Meg turned red, both in anger and complete, utter embarrassment.

"—but anyone could have seen they were polka-dot—"

"—you didn't have to tell the world—"

"—it'd still be your fault, Kyu—"

"—_you're_ the one going to the second circle, Kinta—"

On and on, the argument went, until finally Meg got fed up and whacked all three of them with her duffel bag.

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**Rants: okay, is this a good start? I hope so…I have to tell you though, I'll probably be taking quite a long while to write the entire story out. Even _I_ don't know how it will end. Expect most of my updates to be during the weekends, if I'm lucky enough to even use the computer…**

**Please be patient with me everyone…school is such a hassle these days. Writing fanfics really _is_ my only escape from this confusing world of mine…**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	2. An Odd Will

**Another update! Thank goodness! _–sighs-_**

**First of all, I'd like to thank anyone who reviewed and is bothering to read my notes up here…**

**My life is so confusing right now. But I'll survive, as long as my pen still continues to perform its usual magic on blank sheets…**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q.**

**And forgive me for any names you may find familiar again. I wrote some parts in a notebook, and, since I don't happen to carry around a copy of the entire list of Japanese names (that I have saved on my PC), I just wrote names I could remember. And they've stuck. Aagh.

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**Chapter 2: An Odd Will**

After an hour or two of walking, Class Q finally reached a structure that looked like a cross between a mansion and a school building.

"Is this the music school?" asked Kinta.

"Well, this _is _the address, and we followed each of Mr. Dan's directions, so I guess it's safe to assume that we're here…" said Meg.

"This is some school," said Shizuko.

"Well, there are rooms for students, a big music room, and smaller practice rooms…aside from that, violinists here are supposed to be gifted," said Meg.

"Really now," said Ryuu.

"Well, let's go and see for ourselves," said Kyu excitedly. "No point in waiting out here for something to happen."

Kyu skipped ahead of them and went right for the front porch stairs, almost tripping over one step, missing the next one, and finally landing (with absolutely no grace) on the final stair.

The rest of Class Q, standing behind him, looked a bit embarrassed. (meaning: anime sweat drop)

"Heheheh." Kyu grinned sheepishly, then proceeded to knock on the door.

A young male, with dark hair and bright green eyes, opened the door a crack.

"Uh…hi?" said Kyu, slightly awkward.

The boy looked at him curiously. "Are you the detectives that DDS sent?"

"Yeah," said Kyu as the rest of his classmates stepped up to the door.

The boy opened the door wide, and they realized that he wasn't much older than they were, possibly close to Kinta's age.

"Come in. I'm Minoru. Uhm…I was the one who contacted the DDS about Fumika's death."

"You?" said Kinta, surprised.

"Yes…well, she was a close friend of mine, and I was just as shocked as anybody to hear about her death. I saw the state she was in," Minoru said, leading them down a few corridors.

"What made you contact the DDS?" asked Ryuu.

"I was sure that whatever caused her death didn't have anything to do with her playing the master's composition…I wanted to look into it myself, but since I wasn't sure where to start…so I called the DDS."

He looked at them again. "Uh, to tell you the truth, I didn't tell anyone here that I contacted you detectives for this case. Just tell them you're friends of mine."

"Why didn't you tell them that you didn't believe in the curse?" asked Kyu.

"Because they'd want a reason behind her death, which I don't even have…"

"It's probably for the best that they don't know who we really are," said Ryuu. "It can give us an advantage when we begin investigating."

"Yeah," said Shizuko.

Minoru took notice of her for the first time and saw the violin case strapped to her shoulder. "Are you a violinist?" he asked, slightly surprised.

"Yes, I am," replied Shizuko.

Minoru stared at her for a few seconds, then, as though realizing what he was doing, turned away and pointed to the door they were coming to. "That's the library. Ms. Minamoto, who's been taking care of the school for a while, says that the will is going to be read here. She's getting really impatient about it, really…"

"Why is that?" asked Meg.

"Well, for starters, the will could state the person who could be next to run this place…"

"But aren't some students here pretty young?" asked Kazuma.

"Well, if that's the case, Ms. Minamoto will have the student under her wing for a while, until the title of Maestro is passed on to them," replied Minoru.

"So is everyone here in the running for the inheritance of Maestro Maeda's violin?" asked Ryuu.

"Well, technically yes, it could be anybody. But the people in the top class are most highly favored. Even Fumika was in the running, up until her death, of course," said Minoru.

"So. If every student is in the running, then that includes you, right?" said Ryuu.

"Well, sure it does," Minoru said sheepishly. "I'm in the top class, even though I don't mean to brag or anything…"

"I see," said Shizuko.

Minoru pushed open the door and held it open for the rest of them. As Class Q entered, they were met with some strange looks. About six students were in the room, and so was a middle-aged woman.

Two out of the six students were poring over some books, and four were seated on a large leather couch.

The middle-aged woman was twiddling her thumbs, staring into space.

Minoru turned to Class Q and spoke to them in an under tone, while the other people hadn't noticed them yet. "All these students are in the top class. Some of them might seem a bit unfriendly, but, well…"

A girl with light brown hair, sitting on the couch, spoke up. "Minoru, who are all these people that you brought over?"

"Don't tell me," said a boy whose bleached hair was almost white, "You've gotten yourself an entourage?"

"Don't try to be funny, Satoshi," grinned a blond girl from the other side of the room, one of the students who was poring over a book.

"What? I wasn't _trying_ to be funny, Yui," said Satoshi with a chuckle. "I already am. I don't need to try."

A girl with auburn hair sighed. "Now, aren't you being just a _little_ conceited?"

"Come on, Kazumi, you know I don't really mean everything I say," said Satoshi, pretending to be hurt.

"Of course I know," muttered Kazumi incoherently. "You've told me so much stuff I wished were true…"

A boy with black hair, sitting next to Kazumi, looked at her with a mild expression. "I heard that. What did he tell you?"

Kazumi blushed a bit. "It's not important, Yamato..."

"What was that?" asked Satoshi in a slightly challenging voice.

"Nothing," said Kazumi in a clearer tone.

Ryuu raised an eyebrow. "You guys really get along, don't you?" he said with the faintest note of sarcasm in his voice.

The girl with light brown hair who spoke first grinned at him a little. "Hey, don't mind that. We _do_ get along, usually…"

"Yeah. So anyway," said Satoshi, turning back to Minoru, "Who are these guys?"

Kyu, to everyone's embarrassment, immediately stepped forward, grinning widely. "Hi, I'm Kyu! We're just some friends of Minoru here, so…what was your name again?" He had his hand extended to Satoshi, who looked at him blankly.

Satoshi remembered his manners and shook Kyu's hand. "My name's Satoshi."

The light-haired brunette extended her hand as well. "I'm Ayame…"

Class Q _had_ to sweatdrop as Kyu made his way among the students, who looked a bit surprised and blinked at his hyper attitude.

Meg sighed heavily. "There he goes again…"

"Well, it _is_ what he does best after all," said Ryuu. "He gets to meet a lot of people that way…"

A male student caught Ryuu's eye, a broad-shouldered boy with a strange scar on his wrist. He was keeping himself isolated from everyone else, reading a book.

Or, at least, pretending to read. Ryuu noticed that he kept sneaking glances at the other students while feigning intense interest in the volume he was holding at an angle.

_What is he up to?_ Ryuu wondered to himself.

Kinta, Kazuma and Shizuko lagged a bit behind the rest of the Q Class, unsure of what to do.

Suddenly a man entered the room. Although he was still quite young, a few streaks of gray were scattered among his dark brown strands. He knocked. "Excuse me?"

The middle-aged woman in the library, who had to Ms. Minamoto, said "Yes? Come in..."

The young man bowed. "I'm Mr. Sakata. I'm here to read out to you the will from Maestro Maeda…"

At these words, everyone in the room fell silent and focused their attention on the man.

Class Q looked at each other significantly and nodded.

* * *

When everyone had just about settled down, Mr. Sakata took out a piece of paper from his briefcase, and began reading.

"I, Maestro Maeda, being of sound mind and body…"

As he read on, several whispered conversations began among the students. Class Q put their heads together.

"Do you think the will is going to reveal who inherits the violin?" asked Kyu, whispering.

"Maybe. But there's a possibility that it won't be…" whispered Ryuu.

"Let's just keep listening," said Kazuma.

"…I have left the school temporarily in the hands of my close friend, Ms. Minamoto. For the time being, she is going to continue teaching all of you, my talented students. To my excellent class: Minoru, Fumika, Satoshi, Yamato, Kazumi, Ayame, Yui, Daisuke. I am grateful for having had the chance to witness your development from children to young adults…

…And now moving on to a more important matter. The inheritance of my violin. Most of you might think that it is just an ordinary thing, but it is not. I started my musical career on this violin. It has been with me all my life, and all those years have been etched on it. I have decided that whoever inherits it will gain it not as just an heirloom, but a symbol of authority and leadership in my school…"

Everyone in the room tensed, waiting to hear the words they all wanted to hear…Even Class Q waited with bated breath.

"…I will not reveal it here though."

"_What?_" hissed a random student to himself.

Class Q looked at each other.

_I knew it,_ thought Kyu. _I was almost positive that this wouldn't be resolved so quickly…_

Mr. Sakata continued reading the will, regardless of the continuous whisperings that had broken out.

"The decision is much too important for me to reveal in such a simple manner. I have decided it about several months ago…nothing could have made me part from the decision I had made…to ensure this, I have made a second will. It must be found, within two weeks from the reading of this will. If the will is not found within that period, the authority in my school will be passed to Ms. Minamoto, and she shall take on the painful course of decision-making that I was in, to choose the best among my dear students. I acknowledge all your talents, and each one of you is unique in his or her own special way. You make us feel different emotions and affect us with your music…but there is only one violin to be inherited, and only one school to be run. Once again, two weeks, or the one who has the potential to be the best student may be lost forever."

* * *

Everyone left the library a little disappointed that day. The students were either heartbroken, annoyed, or just completely indifferent about the announcement that had been made, and the deadline that had been given.

A dark figure hung back among the students, thinking, _Two weeks. Keep everyone away, and in two weeks, that violin will be mine…and so will this school._For Class Q, the two-week deadline only posed a greater challenge and an even bigger exertion on their part to finish this case.

Minoru led them down a corridor, saying, "I've made arrangements for all of you. There are a lot of rooms in this house, for students, mostly, but we've got some rooms for all of you."

They were each led into a different room, each very simply furnished, but comfortable.

Shizuko was the last to get to her room, and later that evening violin music could be heard in the corridor as she played her heart out.

The other violin students stayed in their rooms sulking. While some expressed sorrow through their violin music, other rooms remained strangely silent as they ranted in journals or something of the sort.

Little did anyone know that there was one among the population in the school who knew a secret…a secret that could very well change their lives forever…or destroy it completely.

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**Rants: hey, how did you find this chapter? Was it interesting? Nothing remotely terrible has happened…_yet. _Oh, the possibilities that could come when you're writing a mystery fic…**

**Oh, and once again, I hope you're not remotely shocked at some familiar names in this fic, you might have seen them lurking among some other anime. I'm sorry, even though I picked some out from a list of Japanese names; some names I used as "fill-ins" during the "formulating" stage of the fanfic seem to have stuck….**

**Okay, some bad news: I'm under punishment at the moment, so I won't be able to TOUCH the computer between Sunday to Thursday, the only free days I've got will be Friday and Saturday. I'm sorry, but I hope I'll still be able to update well enough….**

**Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW! **


	3. Questions without Answers

**Glad to be back! Another chapter in this adventure awaits…**

**There may be a _little_ Meg/Kyu here….but just a bit….**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q.

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**Chapter 3: Questions without answers**

Class Q met the next morning in Kyu's room to discuss what they had deduced from the will.

"So we _were_ right," said Kyu thoughtfully. "Maestro Maeda wasn't ready to let everyone know about his decision, even he was sure of it."

"But what does the will have to do with the case? Our job is to find out who killed Fumika, not go after some lost will," said Kinta.

"Kinta's right. After all, that's why we're here in the first place," said Meg. "Minoru said that he was the one who contacted the DDS because he wanted to know what really happened to Fumika. But why would Mr. Dan send us over here when he knew that a will was going to be read out and get us involved?"

"Exactly," said Kyu. "But didn't we say before that the will might be closely connected to the case?"

"Yeah, but how?" asked Kinta.

"Don't you think that she might have been killed because she was in the running for the violin's inheritance?" asked Kazuma.

"That's a possibility," said Ryuu. "But it'd become painfully obvious if the best students are killed one by one and then the killer would be the only one left."

"When this deadline of two weeks was given, it would limit the choice and time even further," said Shizuko. "It wouldn't give the killer much of an advantage. After two weeks, all hope of inheriting the violin will be gone."

"Unless the second will is found," said Kinta. "Do you think that whoever killed Fumika knows what or where the second will was?"

"That's possible, and maybe Fumika stumbled over the will but didn't know what it was," said Kyu.

"Maybe that's why the whole 'cursed' violin piece began. The killer needed a cover-up," said Ryuu.

"Well, Fumika's death did cause some panic among the students, even just a little. She was among the top students, right?" asked Kazuma.

"Yeah," said Meg, "Her name was mentioned in the will as one of his best students…"

"Is it safe to assume that everyone in the top class has a motive to kill each other off?" asked Shizuko.

"Well, yes, actually," said Ryuu. "For the students, it'd narrow down the competition for the violin…"

"Hang on, what about Ms. Minamoto?" said Kyu. "She's got a motive too, you know."

"What kind of motive?" asked Meg.

"Well, she may not be in the running for the violin, but if she can keep people away for the time being, she'll gain the entire school," replied Kyu.

"But why would she need to kill Fumika? She only found out about the two-week deadline yesterday. Fumika was killed before the will was read out to everyone," said Kazuma.

"Maybe she had some kind of personal grudge against Fumika, that's one reason," said Kyu.

Shizuko picked up her violin and played a short tune. "Hold on a sec, what about the Maestro's composition? 'The Nine Circles of Hell', remember?"

"What about it?" asked Kinta.

"Don't you think it's somehow connected to our case? I mean, the killer used it as a cover up, it _has_ to mean something," said Shizuko.

"Well, most cover-ups are insignificant," said Kazuma. "The killer'd probably want everyone to make a big fuss over something meaningless rather than something that was closely involved with the will or something, it'd give people even more reason to pick up the composition and examine it. That'd be a good distraction."

"I guess you're right," said Shizuko, fiddling with the tuning knobs on her instrument.

Kyu looked thoughtful. "There're still a lot of things we don't know about this school. And the students." He looked at the rest of his classmates. "Let's try and take a look at this place from top to bottom. The more we know about this school, the quicker we'll solve this case."

"Great idea," said Meg. "Let's take a look at the music room first. After all, that's where Fumika died, didn't she?"

"That's a start," said Kinta.

"I'll try and see if I can get any more information about the Maestro," said Kazuma, typing on his laptop.

"Ryuu, Kinta, let's take a look at the music room on the first floor. Shizuko, you and Meg can search the upper floors and see if there's anything we might have missed," said Kyu, being a little systematic for once.

The investigation had begun.

* * *

"This is some music room," said Kyu.

As they opened the door, the first thing in front of them was the leather couches laid out in a sort-of semicircle around a music stand. A grand piano stood in the upper left corner, while a large shelf flanked the wall at the right. The shelf was filled with some items for the care of the instruments, and music sheets; some old and yellowed with age, others fairly new.

Kinta raised his eyebrows. "Huh. This looks…."

"Familiar?" finished Ryuu.

"Yeah," said Kinta. "The Maestro form Hell case, remember?"

Kyu grinned, saying, "Well, we can't just stand around here staring at all this, let's start investigating!"

Ryuu shook his head, amused. _Someone's being a little enthusiastic today…_

Ryuu stepped into the middle of the room. "This place _is_ soundproof, isn't it?" he said, looking around the space.

"Yeah, Meg said something about it," said Kinta.

"That's natural for a room like this; it's supposed to keep all noise out so that the performance in here won't be disturbed. But what if it also worked the other way?" said Ryuu thoughtfully.

"You mean it also keeps people from hearing the anything from the outside?" asked Kyu.

"Yeah. If that _is_ the case, well, I'd say that no one ever heard her die. If someone had been in this room with her, no one would have known anything."

"But we don't even know if she was alone," said Kyu. "Although that is a pretty good idea. But the problem is how did the murderer kill her and not leave forensic evidence?"

"Hmmm," Ryuu said thoughtfully.

"Not only that, but how could the killer have gotten in? And out as well, someone could have noticed it…" said Kinta.

"The killer was probably clever enough to provide himself with an alibi in order to cover himself up," said Ryuu. "And since dead bodies don't talk, no one else would have been able to know what had happened during the night."

"I can't see anything major here," said Kinta. "Tell you what, I'll just take a look outside, maybe I'll find or hear something useful."

"Good idea," said Kyu. "Ryuu and I'll just take a look of there are any more clues outside of here, maybe along this floor."

* * *

Meanwhile, on the upper floor…

"Let's take a look in here," said Shizuko, opening a door cautiously.

Meg nodded, next to her. "Right."

The dark-haired girl pushed the door open wide. "No one here…" she said, entering the room. she glanced at some papers on a desk. "Is this supposed to be a study?"

As she stepped closer, she noticed that the papers were oddly scattered, and some drawers were left open.

"It looks like the desk was ransacked," remarked Meg. She sniffed the air. "Do you smell something?"

"Kind of…I don't know what it is, though….wait. The drawers were rifled through," said Shizuko, stepping behind the desk. She reached for a piece of paper. It was full of all sorts of scribbles, barely discernable. "I wonder who wrote on this."

"Even if I memorize that, we still won't be able to understand it," said Meg.

"Yeah...I wonder what it was for."

Neither of the two girls saw or heard the door close silently.

Shizuko looked down at the desk. "That's odd."

"What is?" asked Meg, stepping closer and going to the back of the desk, next to Shizuko.

"All the drawers are open. Except for this one," said Shizuko, pointing to the uppermost one.

"Maybe someone didn't have enough time to take a look at this last one," said Meg.

"Well, _we've_ got enough time," said Shizuko with a small smile on her face. "I wonder what the person was looking for."

"Let's open it," said Meg, reaching for the handle. She pulled it open, a bit more sharply than she had meant to.

Unexpectedly, something sparked within the deep recesses of the table. Almost immediately, the papers on the desk burst into flames.

Meg screamed. Shizuko's eyes widened in alarm and shock. "Meg, did you see anything in the hallway that can help us put this out?"

"There was a fire extinguisher in the hallway," answered Meg, sounding fearful.

Shizuko's gaze went to the door they had come through. It was shut.

She ran for the door and pulled at the knob. "It's..it's locked!" she cried out.

"How can that be?" said Meg in shock. "I didn't close it!"

"Neither did I!" said Shizuko, panicking slightly.

The papers on the table were burning quickly, feeding the flames.

"Oh, shoot," muttered Shizuko, staring at the flames on the table. Meg had run over to her. "What are we going to do?" she exclaimed, scared.

Shizuko made a face, then began yelling through the door. "Kyu! Ryuu! Kinta! Anybody! We're trapped in here!"

She began banging on the door desperately.

Meg joined in. "Kyu!" she yelled.

* * *

Kyu and Ryuu were downstairs, pacing the floor below where Shizuko and Meg were.

"I don't get it, how can Fumika die in a perfectly sealed room…"mused Kyu. "There was no other way in…"

"Maybe we're missing something," said Ryuu.

Frantic yells reached their ears from somewhere far away.

"_Kyuuuuu!"_

"_Ryuu! Help!"_

"Huh!" Ryuu said, looking towards the ceiling, at the next floor.

"Meg!" cried Kyu, running for the nearby stairwell.

Ryuu sprinted after Kyu, his heels clicking on each step of the stairs.

"Kyu!" they heard Meg's voice yell.

"Ryuu!" Shizuko's voice called. "Someone help!"

Kyu sniffed the air. "Do you smell smoke?"

Ryuu's eyes widened. "Hurry!"

Kyu ran out to the landing, but Ryuu leaped over the banister and turned sharply into the hallway, leaving Kyu at his heels.

The two boys heard banging from a door. And screams. "Kyu! Ryuu! Kinta! Anyone!"

"Meg! Shizuko!" called out Kyu.

"What happened?" asked Ryuu, yelling through the door.

"We're locked in! There's a fire here, get us _out_!" Meg's voice shrieked.

"Hurry!" shouted Shizuko.

"Kyu! Let's break down the door!" said Ryuu.

"Right!"

The two boys heaved their shoulders against the door once, then twice. A splintering crack was heard.

"Again!" said Ryuu.

They heard Meg's scream from the other side. Kyu's eyes widened. "Come on!"

They heaved themselves against the door one more time, and with a final groan, the door burst open.

Smoke engulfed them for a second, and then suddenly, Meg emerged, throwing her arms around Kyu. "Thank you, thank you!' she said, sobbing into Kyu's shoulder.

Kyu looked a little embarrassed and turned slightly red. Shizuko came out of the room next, grabbing Ryuu's arm. "Quick! There's an extinguisher out there in the hallway!"

Thinking quickly, Ryuu grabbed the extinguisher, running into the room with Shizuko. As he aimed the nozzle at the flames, Shizuko pulled out the pin and squeezed the handle. Thick foam sprayed out of the small hose, dousing the blaze.

Coughing a little, Shizuko opened the windows, letting the smoke escape. As soon as the smoke cleared, Kyu and Meg stepped gingerly into the room.

Most of the papers on the table earlier had turned into ashes.

Shizuko used a gloved hand to pick up a singed document, but it collapsed and turned into fire-dust in her palm.

She sighed. "Now we'll never find out what it was…"

"How did the fire start?" asked Ryuu.

"It started when Meg opened the top drawer. Something sparked inside and, next thing we knew, everything was aflame," explained Shizuko.

"Well, at least this explains the thing we smelled earlier," said Meg. "Remember? We smelled something at the desk before we began taking a look through things."

"Yeah, but if it _was_ something flammable, it'd only be effective if it were wet," said Shizuko. "And the spark, how'd it happen?"

Ryuu opened the drawer carefully. "Here's your answer. Several matches seem to have been attached to one side of the drawer. The side of the matchbox was attached to a side where if you opened the drawer, the matches would strike against the surface and light up."

"But it started so fast," said Shizuko. "What could have been the initial fuel?"

Kyu opened the drawer further, following Ryuu. "There it is. It's an open bottle of denatured alcohol."

"_Great_," muttered Shizuko. She looked at the ashes on the desk. "Well, whatever this stuff was, someone didn't want us to see it."

"Didn't Meg see it?" asked Kyu. "She could just memorize them."

"I _do_ memorize it, but we didn't understand anything," said Meg ruefully.

Ryuu sighed. "This just makes things even more difficult for us."

He walked towards the center of the room, furrowing his eyebrows. "There are too many questions surrounding this mystery," he continued, keeping his back on them. Everyone stared at him.

He turned around, facing them with a frown.

"But there are no answers."

* * *

**Rants: aaaaaagh, I'm sorry for the _loooooong_ time it took me to update this. I was under punishment, remember? But anyway, I hope you guys are still interested, and…**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	4. The Students

**I now officially hate exams and anything that keeps me away from fanfic writing. **

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q.

* * *

**

**Chapter 4: The Students**

Ryuu began to feel slightly irritated as Shizuko walked round and round the music room.

"What are you looking for?" he asked her.

"Nothing in particular," she replied.

He sighed heavily. "I told you. Kyu and Kinta and I have been through his room. Nothing was here to signify a cause of death."

"Maybe it isn't about the room. Maybe it's the person in the room."

"And you can dig up something?"

"Maybe," she replied, fingering the keys on the piano. "I'm music-oriented, just like Fumika was. Now, what would I do if I were playing 'The Nine Circles of Hell' on the violin?"

Ryuu rested his chin in his palm, thinking. "You'd be standing at the music stand with the music sheets."

"And what else?"

"Tuning the violin…"

"Mm-hmm," she said unintelligibly, sneaking to the other side of the room, going through the Music room shelves as he continued to ponder.

"And you'd most likely have—wait a _minute_, Shizuko, _what are you doing?_"

Shizuko felt a large drop of sweat materialize on the side of her head. "Uhmmm, nothing?"

Ryuu's face took on a wary expression. "What are you going through that shelf for?"

"Uh…"

Ryuu walked right up to her, reached past her shoulder into the shelf, and pulled out several music sheets.

He scanned them. "These are the music sheets for 'The Nine Circles of Hell'!"

Shizuko feigned innocence while Ryuu heaved another heavy sigh. "You aren't planning to play the piece, are you?"

"Why not?" asked Shizuko, grinning nervously.

"Because it would _risk your life as well as **CLASS Q**_, that's why not," said Ryuu evenly.

Shizuko's face fell. "Awww, Ryuu, come on…"

"Not now," he replied, putting the music sheets back into the shelf.

* * *

Kyu and Meg could only stare as students milled around the practice room. 

Ayame was being taught a violin piece by Minoru, while Kazumi and Yamato were in a corner. Yamato had his arms around Kazumi, showing her the fingerings on her violin. Using her hand, he guided the bow of her violin across the strings.

Meg had to smile at that scene. "Isn't that sweet?" she whispered to Kyu. Kyu grinned at her in reply.

Satoshi and Yui, meanwhile, were engaged in a debate about Yui's bow handling.

However, one student stood away from the rest of them. Meg took into account a scar on his wrist.

She didn't know his name, but…

She closed her eyes and called back to her memory how Kyu had introduced himself to the students.

_Let's see, first there was Minoru, then Satoshi, Ayame, Kazumi, Yamato, and Yui…but the names mentioned in the will were…Minoru, Fumika, Satoshi, Yamato, Kazumi, Ayame, Yui, and Daisuke…_

_Only one name doesn't match to any student that Kyu met…so that last guy over there must be Daisuke…_

Satisfied with her deduction, she opened her eyes to find Kyu staring at her, waving a hand in front of her face. "You okay, Meg?" he asked.

"Yeah, Kyu, I'm fine, I was just recalling something…"

None of the violin students took notice of them until Minoru glanced their way. He said something to Ayame, then walked right up to them. "What's the matter? Did you guys find something?"

"Minoru, there was a room upstairs that looked like a study. When we opened a drawer in the desk, a fire started. We just want to know if you'd ever been in that room or if you know what could possibly be in those drawers," said Meg.

"A study? Upstairs? Maybe that was the Master's study…he'd lock himself in a room upstairs for hours at a time, usually. But you say it caught fire?"

"Yeah. We found out why, but it destroyed most of the things on the desk. Fortunately, the desk wasn't completely ruined," replied Meg.

"Ever been in there before?" asked Kyu. "Did you ever see what was usually on that desk?"

"Yeah, I think I have. He called me in several times before, to give me a few words of advice, or for some private training sessions. He usually had some music sheets or other items on his desk."

"Anything that ever struck you as strange?" asked Meg.

"Not really…but he did always seem to be fascinated with codes and ciphers. Sometimes I'd find some papers with strange symbols on his desk. When I asked him about it, he just smiled and told me it was nothing. So I didn't mind it."

"Hmmmmm," said Kyu and Meg at the same time.

"Is there anything else?" asked Minoru.

"Nothing else, for now…but we'll just talk to you when we need anything else…"

Minoru nodded and turned to the rest of his classmates.

Kyu looked at Meg and asked, "So, what else do we need to do now?"

"Maybe we should take a look at these other guys," said Meg. "Remember, each one of them has a motive…maybe we'll see something significant…"

Kyu nodded his agreement. The two of them stayed in position, carefully watching through the crack between the door and its frame.

Ayame was saying, "You know, I think this whole 'Nine Circles of Hell' thing is a real fraud…"

Satoshi replied, "Really, now. What'd make you say something like that?"

"I dunno. Besides, I don't really care, just because Fumika died while playing it doesn't mean what she was playing was a curse."

"Got any proof?" asked Yui, smoothing out her blond hair.

"Like I need any. What am I, some kind of investigator? I'm not about to start putting my nose into this weirdness."

Kyu and Meg exchanged glances.

Minoru kept quiet, tuning his violin delicately.

Kazumi looked up at Ayame with a questioning expression on her face. "What exactly are you trying to say, Ayame?"

"I'm just trying to tell you guys that the whole 'death by music' thing is a bit too weird. This girl was one of our classmates. What, is it all about the inheritance?"

At the mention of the word 'inheritance', each and every student in the room set their sights on her.

Kyu and Meg pressed themselves a little closer to the door.

Yamato was saying, "…just because there's an inheritance doesn't mean it's a cause to kill someone..."

"Are you trying to say that someone here is a killer?" asked Satoshi, turning towards the dark-haired boy.

"I didn't say that, Satoshi," replied Yamato calmly. His arms still rested around Kazumi's shoulders.

Kazumi looked down, glancing at the floor, then at Yamato's arms, then back at the ground. She looked a shy, and at the same time afraid, biting her lip.

Satoshi cocked his head, making his bleached-blond hair flip a little. "So what was that about?"

"Ayame was sort of suggesting that if she didn't die by the music, the only other way she died would have been if she was killed, right? So I'm just trying to straighten things out."

"That _is_ true," said Satoshi, putting his hand to his chin and taking on a thoughtful expression. His eyes darted around the room, fleeting towards Minoru's direction. "What do you have to say about all this, Minoru?"

Minoru looked up from his violin and music sheets. "Huh? What were you guys talking about?"

"_Hello,_ anyone home in that head of yours?" said Satoshi in a teasing voice. "We were just talking about Fumika's death."

"Oh, that. Uhm."

He stood up, putting his hands in his pockets. "Honestly, I don't have any idea how she ended up like that…and I'm not sure I want to know…it's too strange…it feels like something you wouldn't want to get involved in, you know?"

Some of the students in the room nodded their agreement, saying things like, "Yeah…" or "That _is_ true…"

_That_ being done, the rest of the students turned their attention back to the things they had been doing before Ayame had started the conversation.

* * *

Kyu and Meg, sighing quietly, got up from their (incredibly tiring, I might add) position at the door and began walking back down the hallway. 

"Was that worth listening to?" asked Meg, looking at Kyu.

"Well, at least we know that the class is pretty much thinking about Fumika. They're all afraid to admit it, but her death has them all spooked."

"Yeah. It's kind of like the killer decided to target their class at once, never mind all the other students."

"But still…" Kyu said, trailing off.

"What is it, Kyu?" asked Meg, seeing that Kyu had fallen into one of his contemplative moods.

He looked at Meg with a significant expression.

"I'm pretty sure that the killer is someone in that class."

* * *

**rants: aaagH! I'm so sorry for taking too long. I had some exams, and my school's been bombarding us with all sorts of tiring work... anyway, are you guys still interested?**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	5. The Body in the Library

**And so, another update is here. Don't kill me yet, just let me finish the story and THEN you can kill me for taking such a tremendously LONG time to continue.**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q.

* * *

**

**Chapter 5: The Body in the Library**

The next morning, Class Q went to one of the practice rooms to watch the top violin class practice their skills.

Minoru, Yui, Kazumi, Yamato, Satoshi, and Daisuke were there.

"Hang on, where's Ayame?" asked Meg, looking at Minoru.

Minoru shrugged his shoulders. "She usually wakes up pretty late. She comes into practice a few minutes after the rest of us get here."

"Oh," said Kyu.

Kinta looked at the rest of his own classmates. "Speaking of missing people, where's Shizuko got to?"

Kazuma turned around. "She was right behind us a few minutes ago."

Ryuu raised an eyebrow. "Was she?"

A few moments later, Shizuko walked through the door. "Sorry, I kind of got distracted."

"There you are," said Kyu, grinning.

"Heheh," Shizuko laughed, embarrassed. She carefully set down her violin case on the floor.

Satoshi took notice. "Minoru, you never told us that one of your friends was a violinist, too."

"I didn't think it was too important…" Minoru replied, a tiny drop of sweat forming at his temple.

"Well, we simply _must_ hear her play," said Yui, setting down her bow on a table. "I'm sure you choose your friends wisely, Minoru."

The rest of Class Q sweat dropped.

"Yeah, let's hear it," said Kazumi, abandoning her violin.

Yamato smiled to himself and put down the violin he was holding.

Daisuke looked in their direction, but didn't say a word.

Shizuko felt a drop of sweat form at the back of her head. _I should _not_ have brought my violin._

Kyu gave her a look that said, "Well, you may as well show them..."

Ryuu had an exasperated look on his face.

Meg could only grin, along with Kinta and Kazuma.

Shizuko sighed and unzipped her violin case, taking out her violin and bow. After making a few adjustments, she placed her bow carefully on the string and began to play.

The violinists' mouths dropped open as she began a fast-paced violin solo. Shizuko squinted as she turned her full attention to the complexity of the violin piece.

_This…this is impossible! Only a virtuoso can play that!_ Satoshi thought in shock.

_My God,_ Minoru thought. _Who taught her this?_

_How can she do that?_ Yui though, eyes widening.

Shizuko's fingers flew across the strings, her brow furrowed in concentration as she shifted from note to note, string to string. Her bow moved with incredible accuracy.

Even Class Q stared in disbelief.

_That…that was so unexpected, _Kyu thought, mouth dropping open.

_Who is she?_ Meg thought, pink orbs wide. _How can she be this good?_

Ryuu's eyes looked astonished. _This…can't be…_

Almost as quickly as she had begun, Shizuko ended the piece. A tired breath escaped from her lips as she lowered the violin from beneath her chin.

The violin students stared dumbfounded for a moment, then burst into applause.

"That was amazing," complimented Kazumi, smiling.

"Thanks," said Shizuko, placing her violin back into the case.

"How long are you going to keep shocking us, Shizuko?" asked Kinta, grinning.

"Heheh..."

Yamato suddenly remembered something. "Wait a minute. Where's Ayame?"

Minoru looked around. "She hasn't arrived yet?"

Yui wrinkled her brow. "She's always late, but never _this_ late…"

"Just wait, maybe she'll turn up," said Satoshi. "Maybe she overslept a little more today than usual."

"I doubt it," said a serious voice behind them.

The violin students turned around. "Daisuke…" said Satoshi.

The student with the scarred wrist looked at them. "Don't think that just because I'm quiet when you bring up Fumika's death means that I don't care about it."

"But you never let us know that," said Yamato.

"It's because I don't want to speak badly about what happened to her. But now…because of what happened to Fumika…I have reason to believe that something's happened to Ayame, too."

"How can you say that!" said Kazumi in a frightened voice.

"Don't you remember? The same thing happened when Fumika died!" Daisuke said.

_A few weeks ago…_

"_What's taking her so long?" Satoshi paced the practice room impatiently. _

"_She probably slept late last night, you remember what she said," said Yui calmly. _

"_Playing the Maestro's composition? Sure," replied Satoshi. "But I don't think it's an excuse to skip the practice, or be late."_

"_Hey, I'm late for practice every day and you don't care," said Ayame, pouting._

"_That's different. You're late so many times that we come to expect it," said Kazumi teasingly. _

"_That's mean!"_

"_Well, it's different from this case," said Satoshi, bringing them around again. "Fumika is **never** late. She **loves**__ practice sessions."_

"_There's no reason to be so worked up, Satoshi," said Minoru, putting down his violin. "Can't you forgive a person for being late just once, even if it's unusual?"_

"_Gah. Forget it. I sent Yamato over to her room to see if she's awake or what."_

_Yamato walked through the door. "She's not in her room. It was left unlocked, so I came in. No one was there."_

"_WHAT?" said Satoshi, fuming. _

"_Wait, wait, don't get too mad," said Yamato. "She said she was going to try and play Maestro Maeda's piece, right?"_

"_So?" asked Satoshi._

"_Maybe she's in the music room…"_

"_Oh,yeah!" said Yui. "Maestro Maeda's composition book is there..."_

"_So let's get to it…"_

The rest of the violin students looked down at the floor.

"Yeah, I remember that…" said Yamato.

"But you really didn't care at the time, all you guys thought was that she'd goofed off on her own," said Daisuke. "And then…"

"_Fumika! Fumika, why'd you lock this—?"_

"_Just get the key from downstairs, Satoshi," said Minoru. _

"_Fine…"_

_Moments later…_

"_It's open," said Minoru. _

"_Fumika! Practice was—AAAH!" _

_Everyone looked horrified. Fumika was lying on the floor of the practice room, pale as a ghost. And the scattered sheets of paper around her were…_

"_These…these are the music sheets for…"_

_The title page was only a few meters away. _

"_The Nine Circles of Hell…!"_

Kyu's eyebrows furrowed in suspicion. "Everyone…"

All the people in the room turned to look at him.

"I think that Daisuke is right," continued Kyu. "Something might have happened to Ayame."

Satoshi seemed to crumble under the weight of the situation.

"All right…" he said in defeat. "Let's look for her."

* * *

"Did any of you find anything?" asked Meg, looking at Kyu and the rest of her classmates.

"Nothing yet…" said Kyu.

"There's one room we haven't checked yet," said Shizuko. "The library."

In an undertone, she asked, "Do you really think the killer got her?"

"More than likely," said Ryuu. "It's almost definite."

"If this really was a murder…don't you think the killer would follow some sort of pattern? Why not in the music room, like what he did with Fumika?"

"Maybe the lack of time or opportunity."

"Hm," said Kyu.

Class Q and the violin students gathered at the entrance to the library.

"All right," said Minoru. "If she isn't here then I have no _idea_ where she could have gone."

He turned the doorknob.

As Class Q and the music students opened the door to the library, they received a very big shock.

Meg, Kazumi and Yui screamed at the sight. Meg shut her eyes immediately, but too late. The image would haunt her for the rest of her life.

The rest of them could only gape at the scene, stunned.

Ayame's body was hanging from the ceiling fan, which was switched on at a very low speed. The dead corpse rotated a full 360 degrees before them, giving a ghastly effect.

Kinta swallowed a lump in his throat, then said, "Anyone care to call the police?"

* * *

As they waited for the authorities to arrive, Class Q began inspecting the body, having sent out the rest of the music students. Of course, the violinists had no idea that they were detectives yet, but they were only too glad to exit the crime scene.

Shizuko had switched off the ceiling fan. However, since they couldn't move the corpse themselves, Kinta came along with a nearby stepladder, which was kept in the library to reach for highly shelved books.

"Hold on a sec," said Kinta. He lifted the stepladder close to his eye and stared at it.

"What are you looking for, Kinta?" asked Kazuma.

"I think that the killer might have used this stepladder to get the body up there," said Kinta. "There could be fingerprints."

"That's a good idea," agreed Kyu, taking a look as well.

Kinta tried the fingerprinting kit from the DDS Notebook, but…

"No way! Everything's been wiped clean…not a trace!"

"The killer must have anticipated an investigation and cleaned it of fingerprints," said Ryuu.

"Darn it," muttered Kinta.

"I guess we can use it now," said Kyu, putting the ladder back in place.

Ryuu ascended the ladder and studied the neck of their corpse. "As expected, the markings on her neck are both from strangulation and hanging. I'd say she was killed before she was hung up here."

Shizuko, who was working from below, said, "I don't see much defensive wounds on her hands…maybe she was attacked from behind."

"Most likely that's possible," said Kyu, "She was taken by surprise, and so she didn't have much chance to defend herself..."

"I wonder why nobody heard the attack here," said Meg, still a little shaken from the scene.

"Maybe the bookshelves stuffed with books muffled the noise," said Shizuko. "Either that, or maybe there was damage to her windpipe and vocal chords, it's no wonder no one heard her scream."

"We'll have to wait for the forensic analysis to see which one it was," said Kazuma, typing in the data on his laptop.

"Anything you got to say about this, Kazuma?" asked Kyu with a sigh.

"Well, I managed to recreate a scale diagram of the crime scene," said Kazuma. "Maybe you can see more from this point of view." He turned the laptop screen towards them.

"As you can see, each of the four walls of this library is shelved. And books occupy them. The only part without a shelf is the door. This place is pretty much sealed.

"The door opens inward, so someone coming in would have to push on the door. So there's a small space behind that door that allows it to open and close freely without being obstructed by the shelves."

"Wait," said Ryuu. "That space behind the door. It's large enough for a person to stand in. Anyone coming in through the door wouldn't see whoever was standing there, making that area a potential blind spot."

"So assuming that she was killed here in this room, there's a place for the murderer to hide in," said Kyu. "The murderer would then come from behind her with a rope, and strangle her to death."

"If only we knew the time of death," said Shizuko. "Then maybe we could find out who killed her by questioning the violin students…"

"You really think it's one of them?" asked Kinta.

"Well, they have motive," said Ryuu. "And most likely they'd try to supply themselves with alibis, but it won't be too easy to figure out which one is—"

"OY! What are kids doing here?"

The whole of Class Q sweat dropped.

_Why does this always happen when we're investigating?_ thought Shizuko sourly.

The authorities seemed to have arrived. The detective began yelling at them. "What do you think you are, detectives? I'm the only one who's allowed to stay in her are investigate! Judging by the way you were ogling the body, you guys must think…"

On and on, the lecture went. Ryuu looked at his watch. Approximately five to six minutes had been wasted since the detective, or whatever he called himself, had entered the scene, and yet he wasn't doing anything that could be considered investigating…

Unless, of course, yelling at six perfectly innocent teenagers counted as investigating, but heck. You get the idea.

Ryuu looked in a different direction, no longer listening.

"And you! Blue-haired one!"

Ryuu looked back at the detective calmly. "Is there something wrong, detective?"

"Don't 'detective' me, pretending to be respectful. I know your type, being all calm even when you're reprimanded because you think you're right and all, well let me tell you something, you're just a little brat who thinks…"

Ryuu's face barely twitched as the detective blathered away, his face inches away from Ryuu's trying to force some kind of reaction into his face, but no avail. Ryuu remained as calm and composed as ever.

Shizuko giggled to herself. The detective was practically yelling his lungs out at Ryuu and he wasn't even batting an eyelash.

_I guess all that yelling Mr. Hongou gives us is actually good for something after all,_ she thought amusedly.

Meg was also giggling, because the officer was practically red in the face from bellowing.

And yet Ryuu showed no signs of response.

The detective, finally realizing that Ryuu was not going to crack, sighed in extreme exasperation, turning away from him. Everyone could see the vein that was throbbing violently in his temple.

The detective looked back at their lot. "All right, _fine_, do any of you _mind _explaining to me what happened here?"

* * *

**Rants: MwahahahhA! And Riyoko-san shall leave you hanging. _:avoids all the things being thrown at her:_ Hey! Don't kill me yet! I promise, I'll continue this! And the actual investigation will continue in the next chapter! I swear it!**

**Anyway…finally, Daisuke talks, ne? XD and you all thought he was probably an extra, or basically a mute person. Hahah…**

**Yeah, as always…PLEASE REVIEW!**


	6. Daisuke's Daring Move

**I'm sorry. I AM SO SORRY. I AM SO SO SO SO SO SORRY. **

**Here's the update. Merry Christmas. and a Happy New Year.  
**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q i'm just a random fan who would like to put her fangirling to good use.

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Chapter 6: Daisuke's Daring Move **

Class Q sat down on the leather couches in the library. The detective frowned at them.

"I see that one of you is a violinist, but that still doesn't explain what the five of you are doing here. And why the heck are you fooling around at a crime scene?"

"We were just trying to see what we could find out before the authorities arrived," said Meg.

Kazuma raised his laptop to the officer's face. "I just thought that maybe you'd like to see this scale model of the crime scene I made using my computer. We think that the killer took advantage of the blind spot behind the door and strangled Ayame to death from behind."

The detective waved it off. "That's cute, kid, but don't forget that I'm the one doing the investigation here."

Shizuko, who was nearest, had to grab the back of Kazuma's shirt to stop him from getting at the detective. The use of the word "kid" and "cute" had seemed to make him furious for some reason.

Kinta hissed at Kazuma, "Pipe down! We're not supposed to let him know that we're from DDS!"

At that, Kazuma calmed down a bit, but he was still fuming.

Fortunately, the detective hadn't heard anything, and was reading a folder that one of the police officers had handed over to him.

"Lucky guess, kids. It turns out that you were right about your info earlier. She'd been strangled. But before that—"

"There was damage to her vocal chords keeping her from screaming?" finished Kyu.

"Well, yes. But right as you may be, this investigation is best left to professionals, and not amateurs."

The detective shut the folder. "Therefore, I suggest that you go back to your rooms and leave this case alone."

* * *

"The. NERVE." Shizuko muttered as she paced Kyu's room, where Class Q had decided to meet. 

"Yeah, I know," agreed Meg.

"How dare he call us amateurs!" said Kinta, throwing his hands up in the air.

"He called me a kid," seethed Kazuma.

Ryuu and Kyu remained a little bit quiet for a while.

"What do you think, Ryuu?" asked Kyu, turning to him. "Do you think that anyone here killed her?"

"It's painfully obvious that one of the violin students is the killer. But I still don't understand how she—"

"Shizuko?" Meg's voice reached their ears.

Ryuu looked up. So did Kyu.

Meg turned to the two boys. "She was here a second ago."

Ryuu raised an eyebrow. "Where could she have gone?"

Kyu put his chin in his hand. "Maybe she went to look for something..?"

"Good idea," said Kinta. "Maybe since the library had nothing for us, maybe she went to Ayame's room."

The others looked at him weirdly. "What made you say that, Kinta?" asked Meg.

"Huh? Well-uh—" Kinta grinned. "It's intuition!"

* * *

Meg led them down one of the students' corridors. "Ayame's room was this one," she said, pointing at an open door.

Kyu peeked inside.

Shizuko was there, wearing a pair of gloves and rifling through several papers.

"What are you looking for?" asked Kazuma, stepping in.

Shizuko looked at them. "I think I just saw a connection between Ayame's and Fumika's death."  
She held up a piece of paper.

"So…" Ryuu said. "There it is."

The page that Shizuko held up said… "The Nine Circles of Hell".

* * *

Kyu paced the floor at his room this time. "Meg and I DID overhear Ayame being smug about playing the piece yesterday," he said, chin in hand.

"But still. Who would kill someone over a violin piece?" said Meg, looking a bit worried.

"I'm not sure yet. But as each student dies, the chances of being the heir gets higher for each person," said Kyu.

"Do you think that's the only motive?" asked Kinta.

Minoru knocked on their door. "Excuse me."

Everyone looked up at him a little glumly.

"I have some news...I thought that you guys should be the first to know."

Class Q exchanged glances. "What's going on?" asked Kyu.

"Well, I have two things to say. First, it's about that detective. He just came around asking us for our alibis last night when Ayame was killed."

Kyu smacked his forehead. "Ah! I forgot! I should have asked Meg to come with me to watch the interrogation!"

Meg turned pink.

Kyu suddenly looked embarrassed. "Er, that is to say, uhh, her photographic memory would have been a help…"

Meg turned even pinker.

Minoru shook his head. "Anyway, if you want to know, he asked us what we'd been doing at around ten to eleven o'clock last night. So far, Yui said that she'd been asleep. Daisuke said he'd been watching TV in his room. Satoshi said that he was practicing his violin."

"That late?" asked Ryuu. "Can anyone confirm that?"

"Well, actually, I can. I heard him playing as I passed by his door. In fact, I also heard Daisuke's TV."

"What were _you_ doing out that late?" asked Kyu curiously.

"I just went down to the kitchen for a glass of water. When I came back everything was still the same."

"What about Kazumi and Yamato?" asked Shizuko.

"They say they were sleeping too."

"Well, that's fine…so what's the other bit of news?" asked Meg.

"Well, it's just that we're having a bit of a performance this evening. All of us are going to play our violins…and several are going to have solo performances…"

"Oh, really?" asked Shizuko. "What time?"

"At six o'clock. I suggest that you all come on time or else you'll miss some really nice performances…"

"You going to play something special, Minoru?" asked Kinta.

"Actually, not that special, I'm just going to play 'Flight of the Bumblebee'…" he replied sheepishly. "But you might find this interesting..."

"What?" asked Kazuma.

"Daisuke says he's going to play the Nine Circles of Hell."

At this, Shizuko stood up from her seat. "What?"

Minoru stared at her. "Yeah, for some reason."

"Does he know that his life is at risk just by suggesting that?" said Ryu, looking up from his seat in the corner.

"I've talked to him, but I don't think I convinced him very much. He thinks that putting the piece out in public might prove the curse unreal…"

"Well, whether his intentions are good or not, don't you think its best if he sticks to a safer piece?" asked Kyu.

"He doesn't want to be convinced…you see I have a feeling that he and Fumika were closer than any of us thought. Maybe he wants to prove that she was killed, too."

"I just hope that he knows what he's doing," said Meg quietly.

* * *

**Rants: okay, yes, this was pretty short. But I'll try to post up the next chapter right away while I still have time.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! **


	7. A Deadly Performance

**YES, I'm going to try and post two chapters at once, because I love you all, plus I don't want a legion of people at my gate screaming for me to get on with my fics…**

**Plus I really miss making these things. **

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q.

* * *

**

**Chapter 7: A Deadly Performance**

Class Q sat down in the music room that evening.

Apparently, not only was the music school well, a SCHOOL, it was also a bit of a theater, open at rare times for exclusive performances.

Along with Class Q in that room was Ms. Minamoto, Mr. Sakata (the lawyer who had read the will), and several other people who appeared to be publicists.

Due to the murder found earlier that day, however, the detective, now identified as Detective Yoshimura, stayed behind along with several police officers.

Kinta sighed heavily. "It'll be a weird thing if the murderer manages to slip through any of these guys."

"I know, but seeing as the killer has managed to stay at large so far, I think that the chances of another murder are high…" said Kazuma.

"Well, we have no choice now except to see what happens. We don't have much to go on," said Ryuu quietly.

"I wish we could figure this out soon…before another kill happens…" said Meg.

Kyu heaved a sigh as well. "I wish we could help more with the investigation…but we can't do that without revealing that we're DDS students…"

"Why can't we?" asked Shizuko.

"The goal is that we keep them from finding out as much as possible…" said Ryuu. "Revealing our identities would put us at risk as well even though we're not involved as much in the murders…"

"Shh, the performance is starting…" said Meg in a low tone.

The lights in the room dimmed.

Class Q, particularly Shizuko, leaned forward in their seats.

Minoru, Yui, Daisuke, Satoshi, Kazumi and Yamato sat in a small semicircle, with sheet music propped up int front of them.

Ms. Minamoto stepped forward, a conductor's baton in hand.

She raised the slender rod, and as she brought it down, the violinists began their performance.

Yui looked particularly focused on her piece; her brows were furrowed so deeply that they were in danger of becoming permanently knitted together.

The rest however, played through without much effort; or, perhaps, they were simply hiding their nerves.

After a few minutes of melodious tunes, everyone else slowed down except for Minoru, who played through a difficult solo. Shizuko watched with bated breath as he made the bow and strings meet harmoniously with every stroke.

Moments later, the entire violin class reclaimed the spotlight as they played together once again.

As they finished, Ms. Minamoto wiped a couple of beads of sweat on her forehead, then bowed along with the rest of the students.

Next came the solo performances.

Minoru, as predicted, Played "Flight of the Bumblebee", skillfully, as executed earlier in the performance.

Kazumi and Yamato performed a duet of sorts, playing the same piece. However, as a twist, they alternated between several parts of the piece. Making them seem almost completely coordinated and, most of all, in tune with one another.

It was as thought one of them knew precisely what the other was thinking, and performed to the other's expectations and pace.

Satoshi showed off his talents with a dramatic rendition of Beethoven's 5th symphony. Soon after, Yui entered with an exciting interpretation of one of Mozart's violin concertos.

Ryuu watched suspiciously, however when Daisuke stepped up to perform his piece.

Shizuko raised her eyes to the sheet music which the young violinist had in front of him. Sure enough, it was "The Nine Circles of Hell".

_It looks like Minoru wasn't able to convince him after all,_ she thought, furrowing her brow.

Daisuke began playing.

Surprisingly, for someone who had not been heard practicing this piece, he played it quite effortlessly. Shizuko listened carefully, taking note of his form.

Meg tapped her on the shoulder. "Do you really think that this piece is cursed?"

"There's no proof," she whispered back.

Kinta leaned over to them. "Do you think that if it _is _cursed, Daisuke will die right after he plays it?"

"I hope not," said Kyu. "However, if he dies some time later, there's a much higher possibility that it was murder. And so are the other three."

"Shhh," said Kazuma. "It's not a time for conversation. Everyone's staring."

Slowly, the notes began ascending in pitch, raising the hairs at the back of Ryuu's neck. He shivered a little, recalling the Maestro from Hell case.

He took a deep breath and focused his attention to the performance. Daisuke was pressing on with the difficult piece. He observed how the violinist's brow wrinkled in concentration.

_So far, nothing's happened. I think he's almost done,_ Ryuu thought to himself.

Sure enough, a few moments later, with the notes lowering in pitch, he ended the piece and bowed.

Everyone in the room clapped enthusiastically. Ms. Minamoto picked up a nearby microphone.

"Everyone, you have just witnessed the first public performance of 'The Nine Circles of Hell', a composition by the late Maestro Maeda himself. I believe that this is enough to show everyone that this piece most definitely is not cursed and that any controversial deaths involving this piece are mere coincidence and tragic accidents."

Kinta bristled. "She's just trying to veer publicity away from the deaths."

"That's obvious," said Kyu. "I think it's because she can't really have the piece published for other violinists to play if there's the fear of it being cursed…"

"Yeah, that's true…" said Meg.

"Let's take a look at how Daisuke's holding up. He's probably in his room," said Kazuma.

Class Q slipped out of the Music room and went to the students' dormitories.

* * *

They found Daisuke putting away his violin.

"Hey," said Kyu in greeting.

The young man looked up in surprise. "Hi."

"That was a great performance," complimented Meg cheerfully.

"Well, considering that I didn't have much practice at all, I expected it to be worse than usual," said Daisuke, snapping his violin case shut.

Shizuko cast about her gaze inside the room. She spotted a vase of roses at the table.

Pointing at them, she walked casually inside. "A fan sent these?"

"I don't know, honestly," said Daisuke sheepishly. "I found them in my room after the performance. There was no card, if that's what you're looking for," he added as he saw Shizuko going among the flowers.

"Oh," she said, disappointed.

Ms. Minamoto came to the door. "Daisuke, the press wants to have a word with you."

He looked a little embarrassed. "Can you please tell them to wait a bit? I've got to pull myself together for that…"

"They don't have long, but they're willing to wait for you," said the woman patiently. "But this might be your chance to make a mark in the world, so don't take too long."

She left, heels clicking against the floor.

Kyu scratched his head awkwardly. "I guess we'd better leave too. We'll just see you downstairs, then."

Daisuke nodded. "All right."

* * *

Some time later, as everyone waited impatiently in the music room, Class Q began to worry.

"It's been almost thirty minutes," said Kinta, looking at his watch. "He wouldn't make anyone wait that long."

"Maybe something's happened to him," said Kazuma.

"He was okay when we left," said Kyu.

"But in the span of thirty minutes, anything could happen," said Ryuu seriously. "I think it might be safe to say that something _has_ occurred."

Shizuko ran a hand through her short hair. "Maybe we shouldn't have left him behind in his room."

"Guys, I think we'd better take a look," said Kyu.

Class Q ran up the stairs to Daisuke's room.

"Daisuke? Daisuke, are you in there?" Kyu said, knocking.

Shizuko tested the doorknob. It turned easily, allowing her to push the door open with a creak.

The scene that greeted them caused Meg to scream. The rest of them could only stare in alarm.

Daisuke was lying on the floor.

Ryuu strode quickly into the room and checked Daisuke's pulse.

"It's no use. He's gone."

Kyu's eyes widened with shock. "But the door was closed! No one was missing from downstairs," he said, turning to Meg. "Right?"

Meg nodded, her eyes still shut, blocking the view of the dead body.

As Kyu went over to reassure Meg, Shizuko stepped into the room gingerly. "What could have killed him?"

"I'm not sure," replied Ryuu. "Everything seems to be in order since the time we were in here. But look."

He pointed at Daisuke's hands. "There are puncture wounds."

He turned to Meg. "Meg, is there anything in this room that has moved since we were here? Anything he might have touched?"

"The violin case…the things at the table…and…The roses have moved too…" replied Meg nervously.

"The roses!" cried Kyu, Shizuko and Ryuu.

Shizuko reached for them, but Ryuu grabbed at her wrist. "No, don't," he said, jerking her hand away. "The thorns could have been poisoned…"

Shizuko looked at him, eyes wide. "But…who sent these?"

Ryuu let go of her wrist slowly, contemplating. "There's no card…and I don't think we can be able to identify who sent these without it…furthermore, we can't tell that someone might have had these sent and then placed it here by accident…"

"So you think that this could have all been just a mistake?" asked Kyu, stepping up.

"I'm not sure yet. But—"

"What's going on?" asked Yui, coming into the room. "We heard a scream and—AAAAHHHH!"

Her eyes fell on Daisuke's dead body.

"What's this racket—My GOD! Is he dead!" Minoru exclaimed, appearing at the doorway.

Detective Yoshimura fought his way through the small crowd that had gathered. "All right, what the heck is going on here?"

"There's been another murder," said Kyu quietly. "I think it's best if all the media people downstairs leave. I don't think this is the kind of publicity that the school needs…"

"I'll tell Ms. Minamoto," offered Minoru, hurrying away with Yui.

The DDS students were left behind in the room, staring down the detective.

"You kids are here again? I thought I told you not to interfere with police affairs!"

"With all due respect sir, we'd like to—" Shizuko began, but the detective, annoyed, came in and wrenched her up by the collar.

"Look, this is none of your business! I should already have you kids in custody for interfering with police—"

Something fell from underneath Shizuko's blouse and fell to the floor with a faint tinkling sound.

Her eyes darted to it immediately, widening in alarm.

Ryuu closed his eyes, sighing.

The detective looked down at what had fallen and picked it up.

The tiny DDS badge flashed under the light of the incandescent above them.

"D-D-DDS!" Detective Yoshimura sputtered in shock. He looked up at the six of them. "You're all from DDS?"

Class Q looked horribly embarrassed. "Yes…." said Kyu nervously.

Yoshimura pressed the badge into Shizuko's hand, making her wince in pain as the sharp edge of the pin pricked her palm. "I'm sorry for being rough on you kids—"

"Sir, we would very much appreciate it if you didn't divulge that we are DDS students. It would be a risk to us," said Ryuu, stepping forward.

"Y-yes, of course," said the detective, still in shock. "I'll leave you to your work…"

"One moment," said Ryuu. "The forensic analysts have to perform an autopsy on this body and find out the cause of death. We suspect that he was poisoned through the puncture wounds on his hands. Those roses need to be inspected of any poison, too."

"Y-yes," said Detective Yoshimura.

"Thank you,' said Ryuu curtly.

The detective fled the room hastily.

Kinta crossed his arms. "As usual, the great Ryuu Amakusa takes the situation in stride."

"He's a pretty cold one," said Kazuma.

Ryuu glanced at them, frowning slightly.

Kyu grinned widely. "Weeell, at least he won't stop us from doing our investigating."

"I just hope that he keeps his word and not tell anyone about our being students at DDS," said Meg with a sigh.

Shizuko pursed her lips as she slowly pulled at the DDS badge, which had gotten embedded in her palm. "He did NOT have to prick me with my DDS badge."

"Let me see it," said Ryuu. "It can't be that bad."

"It isn't. It just stings."

Shizuko winced again as Ryuu pulled the DDS pin out of her palm. She quickly slapped her handkerchief over the wound and balled her hand into a fist. "That should keep it from bleeding too much," she muttered. "Thanks, Ryuu."

"It's nothing."

Kinta rolled his eyes to heaven. "It is time to investigate, people."

"Meg, have you memorized the scene?" asked Kyu.

"Yes," Meg affirmed.

"Anyway, I don't think that there's much we can do here. Not until we get some information back from the police," said Ryuu, handing over Shizuko's slightly bloody badge.

"It just seems unfair to let the killer get away again," said Shizuko, frowning. "Daisuke played the Nine Circles of Hell and got killed. There HAS to be some kind of reason why it's only this piece."

"Do you think there's a hidden meaning?" asked Kyu.

"I don't know."

"It's possible that the killer's just making a big deal over the piece so that the real reason is kept hidden," said Kazuma.

"Well, whether it's the reason or not, I am not going to let this killer get away with 'cursing' a beautiful piece," Shizuko said, tightening her fist. "I'm going to do it."

"I am going to play The Nine Circles of Hell."

* * *

**Rants: Whoa. It looks like this mystery is getting deeper by the second. Let's see whether Shizuko succeeds in proving a curse or not. XD**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	8. Plans and Pairings?

**The Case so Far: now, Shizuko's kind of mad for letting the killer get away. In her own understanding, the music doesn't deserve all the blame for the murders. And so...she is pushing through with her plan. The Nine Circles of Hell will unravel its mystery at her hands. **

**Class Q and the others are kind of worried, but seeing as there is probably no other choice, let her go her own way.**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q.

* * *

**

**Chapter 8: Plans and Pairings?  
**

Back in her room, Shizuko spread out some fresh music sheets in front of Class Q. "Look at this."

"What is it, exactly?" asked Meg.

"This is a copy of the Nine Circles of Hell that I copied some time ago…"

Ryuu looked up at her in surprise. "How'd you copy this? I thought that you hadn't gone near the piece in a while…"

"I...uh...I sort of sneaked behind your back to do it…"she admitted embarrassedly.

"You did what?" he asked in shock.

"Well, at least I've got part of a copy now, and I won't be able to raise much suspicion for the killer yet since he didn't see me getting at the piece," she said defensively.

"She's right," said Kyu. "By having this copy already, she doesn't have to keep borrowing the Maestro's booklet. And even more, it doesn't raise too many questions as to why someone outside the violin school would want to play it…"

Ryu slumped, knowing that it was pointless to argue the point even further.

"The problem is, I only have a copy for the first few circles of Hell," said Shizuko. I only reached about five when Minoru came in getting some rosin for his bow. I had to make it look like I was taking a look at the practice sheets rather than the Maestro's booklet."

"Well, maybe those first parts will give us some sort of clue," said Meg. "Maybe one of these days I could sneak a peek at it and help you construct the next few pages," she added, smiling at Shizuko.

"Hey, that'd be great." Shizuko grinned. "Maybe I'd better take a look at this in the practice room. If I play only parts of bars at random, maybe they won't suspect that I'm playing the Nine Circles…"

"Good," said Kyu.

"Meanwhile, maybe we'd better do a little more investigating on the killer's side of this case," said Kazuma. "Shizuko can handle the music side."

"Yeah! She could be right that there's something about that piece," said Kinta.

_I just hope that that something won't kill her, _thought Ryuu to himself.

"Hold on," said Meg.

Kyu looked up at her. "What's wrong?"

"To be honest, it's getting kind of late now," said Meg, pointing at the wall clock above Shizuko's bed. "It's almost eight. The investigations might have to wait until tomorrow."

"That's right," said Ryuu, realizing it too. "The autopsy results and the poison might also be finished by tomorrow as well. I don't think that there's much we can do tonight except plan. Tomorrow, everything should go in order."

"Aw, what a bummer," said Kyu glumly. "I was so caught up in this that I didn't think about the time…"

"Well, tomorrow is another day, Kyu," said Kinta, patting the younger teen's head. "Save your energy for our adventure tomorrow!"

"Yeah, well—wait a minute, OUR adventure?" said Kyu, stopping mid-sentence.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?"

"I, uh, I thought that I'd be working with Meg?"

"Can't let you two be together all the time, couples need to have some alone time," said Kinta teasingly. "Aside from that, you two might distract each other and start making out or something—"

**_WHACK!_**

"Owww!" said Kinta. He glared at Meg. "What the heck was that for?"

"That was for being such a pathetic jerk!" she said in an angry tone. Standing up, she walked out with her nose in the air.

The boys looked at each other with confused looks. "What's the matter with her?" asked Kyu.

Shizuko sighed. "Maybe you boys had better go and talk this over among yourselves."

"Yeah, we'd better," said Kazuma, closing his laptop.

"Ditto," said Kinta. "Good night, guys."

"See ya, Kinta," said Kyu, walking out into the hallway.

Ryuu was the last to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Good night," said Shizuko, putting away her crudely written music sheets.

"Shizuko?"

"Hmm?"

"I suggest that you leave those sheets alone for tonight and think about it tomorrow instead. I know that you want to play them now, but wait a little. I don't want another dead body in this school tomorrow."

With that, Ryuu left, closing the door behind him.

Shizuko could only stare at the closed door, confusion written all over her face.

* * *

**Rants: and that's another chapter! Still interested? I'll be writing another one! I seem really inspired today, for some reason. XD**

**I think I'll be posting chapter nine too, LOL. **

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	9. A Threat in the Dark

**All right, I'm back. I guess this just might be the chapter you have all been waiting for. Shizuko will finally attempt to play the Nine Circles of Hell—but not in public! Read on. **

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q OR ITS CHARACTERS. I only own Shizuko and perhaps the plot.

* * *

**

**Chapter 9: A Threat in the Dark  
**

Shizuko frowned as she studied the piece. So far, she had succeeded in dodging the other violin students and gotten a single practice room to herself. As much as she wished someone from class Q had stayed with her, her classmates seemed to have all gone in different directions. With an annoyed sigh, she played a few bars from the middle of the piece she had copied.

"Okay, I've got that down," she said to herself, raising her eyes to another part of the piece. "But this part looks complicated…" she muttered, raising her bow again to play it.

She winced as she made a mistake.

"Aagh," she grumbled under her breath.

"I guess even talented violinists make mistakes," said a voice nearby.

Shizuko jumped.

Minoru was standing in the doorway of the practice room.

"I didn't hear you come in," she said.

"I've been standing there for the past three minutes.

"Oh."

He stepped inside. "What exactly are you trying to do?"

"This set of notes is getting to me. I can't seem to play it right."

"Did you have enough rosin on your bow?"

"Yes."

"Did you tighten the bowstrings?"

"_Yes._"

"Did you tune your violin?"

"YES. Okay?"

The boy's dark hair fell onto his forehead as his green eyes scanned the bar Shizuko was pointing at. "Well, I see where you're having a hard time. I think I came across something like this in another piece…"

"Really? And you got it right?"

"Yeah, I'll show you."

He came up behind her and Shizuko, unnerved, stepped away from him. "What are you doing?"

"I have to do this, or else you won't be able to know how it's really done."

"Is it really necessary for you to do that?"

"Just bear with me."

She slumped. "Fine. But don't get any ideas. You do and I'll make sure that you won't live to regret it."

Minoru could only laugh at such a weak threat. "Of course, of course."

With a small frown on her face, she lowered her guard and allowed Minoru to put his arms around her. As she held the violin in place under her chin, Minoru placed his fingers over hers and held the bow in position at her other hand.

As Minoru guided her bow across the strings, she couldn't help but swallow nervously at how they looked.

_I just hope no one from Class Q sees me like this…

* * *

_

Ryuu could hear violin music as he walked along the hallway. _I wonder where it's coming from…_

Kyu and Kinta had gone into town to see if any flower shops had made a delivery yesterday, and Meg and Kazuma had gone to the nearby police station to check on the autopsy results.

Ryuu sighed to himself. _For once, it's me who's left behind…_

The musical tones got louder as he neared a certain door. Thinking that it might be Shizuko playing, he took a peek inside.

He most certainly did not expect to see the scene in front of his eyes.

One of the students, Minoru, had his arms around Shizuko and was guiding her she played the violin. Before he thought to do anything, he ducked out of the room before he could be seen.

As he walked quickly back to his room, very confused thoughts began filling his mind. His usually organized way of thinking had suddenly been slammed out of focus.

He stopped in his tracks in the middle of the hallway and sighed to himself. _Calm down. What are you so worried about? It's most likely nothing. _

Reaching his room, he went inside and promptly locked it.

* * *

"Ryuu!" 

Someone was knocking at his door. "Ryuu!"

Ryuu opened his eyes and brushed the wet hair out of his face. Rising from his bed and stretching, he got up to open the door.

It was Shizuko, of course, giving him a small smile and holding up some music sheets.

"I've been through them, do you want to hear? I couldn't find the others and—wait a second, you showered?"

Her eyes flicked upward to the bangs that were wetly plastered to his forehead. Her eyes raked down the features of his face and down to the plain, short-sleeved t-shirt he was wearing.

_It's weird for me to see him this casually dressed,_ she thought.

Ryuu blinked in confusion at first as he tried to decipher Shizuko's sentence. "Yes, I showered," he said, answering her last question, then adding, "And the others aren't here just yet, they went out earlier to town so that they could get the results of the autopsy and check out the flower shops."

"Oh. And you're still here and not with them because…?"

"Because Meg was worried that if no one else was here when you were, you might get targeted by the killer so…I stayed."

"Oh. That's…okay then…"

Actually he had stayed because he himself was worried, but then he was too proud to admit that he would be _that_ concerned about the situation. And besides, he didn't really have much of a choice given that everyone else was fooling around too much to take any notice of him.

She held up the music sheets again. "So do you want to hear them?"

He blinked again slightly confused, then he realized that she was still standing out side. Regaining his composure, he opened the door a little wider and said, "Of course…"

She raised her eyebrow at him. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, letting her in.

Shizuko stepped inside, carrying her violin case and sitting down on a nearby chair.

Ryuu sat on the bed across from her. "Shizuko."

"Hm?" she looked up at him.

"Are you sure of what you're doing?"

"Of course," she replied, fiddling with the tuning knobs on her instrument. "I've studied the piece pretty well, and—"

"That's not what I was referring to."

"—Oh," she said. "What were you referring to, then?"

"I'm talking about your idea of playing this composition. It might not be a good idea."

"Why not? You certainly don't believe that this piece is cursed, do you?"

"Yes, I don't believe that this piece is cursed. It's just that even though it may or may not be the case, your life could be in danger because of your attempt. You could die."

He said the last three words with heavy emphasis. Shizuko stared at him.

He was strangely silent as he looked her in the eye, a fierce fire burning in them.

Shizuko sighed and put down her violin. "I realize that I'm putting everyone at risk here…But still. I want to prove that this music had nothing at all to do with the deaths. Aside from that, this music intrigues me."

She looked at the music sheets. "Besides, I'm not in exactly the same position as the others were. I'm not alone. And the circumstances could be different."

She looked at him. "And anyway," she added with a grin, "I'm sure that you and Kyu will figure this out before anything bad happens. Like you guys always do."

He raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you had that much confidence in us."

"Well, I do. Do you still want me to play?"

Ryuu thought about it. Half of him wanted to challenge this curse and let her play; the other half wanted to protect her—and Class Q—from a deadly fate.

He sealed his choice. _So be it. _

"All right. Let's see if this curse is real. Play."

Shizuko smirked to herself, knowing that Ryuu couldn't resist the aura of mystery surrounding the piece.

Placing the violin under her chin, she prepared herself. Ryuu leaned back against the headboard of his bed, in a sort of crossed-legs sit. He folded his arms across his chest.

"I've only been able to get through the parts I've copied. As for the rest, it will take me longer."

Ryuu nodded his understanding.

Shizuko drew her bow across the strings and began to play a mildly gentle tune that slowly ascended to a higher pitch. Smoothly, her fingers flew nimbly among the strings. Her eyebrows were knitted in concentration as she focused on the song.

Ryuu found himself rather lost in that same feeling he had gotten at Daisuke's performance. As Shizuko raised the speed, tone and pitch, it raised the hairs at the back of his neck.

Shizuko stared at the music sheets in her lap, focusing on each note. As she was about to stop at the end of the fifth movement, the lights above them flicked, then suddenly, went out.

Shizuko froze. "Uh-oh."

She felt a hand grab at her arm as she stood up. "It's me. Don't move," Ryuu's voice said somewhere to her left.

The lights flickered back on. Ryuu had risen from his position on the bed and was holding on to Shizuko's arm. "What just happened?" he wondered aloud.

Shizuko scanned the room, and noticed a piece of paper on the floor. She pointed at it. "Look."

Ryuu slipped on some gloves. "There could be fingerprints." He picked it up and studied it. "It was slipped underneath the door."  
He opened it, and immediately looked troubled.

"What does it say?" asked Shizuko, putting away her violin.

"Just one thing," said Ryuu, showing her.

A single word was printed in block letters, in red ink that made it look eerily like blood.

"Silence…" Shizuko murmured softly.

"You seem to have caught the killer's attention," he said, opening the door carefully and looking out into the hallway. Shizuko came up behind him, but he motioned for her to stay back. "Nobody's out there. But that doesn't mean that he or she couldn't have hidden in a room somewhere."

"Maybe I should leave," said Shizuko, picking up her violin case and the sheet music. She was about to go out the door when—

"I'm coming with you," said Ryuu, getting his jacket, which was hanging on a chair.

"It's fine, I can take care of myself—" she insisted, but Ryuu had his jacket on and was ahead of her out the door before she could protest further.

"I'm not risking you getting killed out there in the hallway," he said firmly, closing the door behind them.

Shizuko walked at his side, slightly annoyed that Ryuu wouldn't let her go alone, and slightly nervous that the killer _could_ be out in the hallway as Ryuu had said.

She sighed heavily. _In the end, the great Ryuu Amakusa is right,_ she thought sourly.

They reached her room. Shizuko reached out to turn the knob, but Ryuu grabbed it and opened it for her.

She looked at him. "Let me guess. Maybe poison's on the handle and you don't want me to end up like Daisuke?" she said, only half-joking.

"Partly that, and partly because I am also staying in the room with you until the rest of Class Q hears about this."

_And partly because you are SUUUCH a gentleman,_ thought Shizuko secretly. Out loud, she said, "But—"

"No 'buts'."

Shizuko slumped. _This is going to be a long, weird afternoon and evening…

* * *

_

**Rants: That's it for now. I'll get back to this when I'm inspired again. Sorry for taking so long to update before…**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	10. Security Measures

**Finally, I update again. I think some of you might have your own suspicions about the violin students, particularly Minoru. **

**Actually, er…this is kind of complicated. I was planning to sort of make a Minoru-Shizuko scene in the previous chapter. But then, well, I failed utterly. Same with the Ryu-Shizuko scene I tried there too (I just can't do it out of immense GUILT!).**

**I. Am. An. Utter. Failure. Maybe I'll be more sure of myself if you guys tell me what you want to happen with my OC, I need some opinions…**

**Anyway, this is the next chapter. I hope you guys don't hate me yet.**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q.

* * *

**

**Chapter 10: Security measures**

**(weird title, yes.)**

"Murder."

"Secret."

"Danger."

"Death."

"Okay, why are you spelling out words connected to our case?" said Shizuko, looking up from the Scrabble tiles Ryuu had placed on the board. She scribbled down his word and score.

"So are you," replied Ryuu, scooping out more tiles from the bag that held Scrabble tiles.

"But you aren't breaking the pattern," she said, rearranging her own tiles.

"I find it interesting."

"I, on the other hand, find it exasperating," she responded, with just a little bit of frustration in her voice as she tried to make him see her point.

"Hmm," was Ryuu's only reply.

They had started a Scrabble game a few minutes ago, since Ryuu was finding it hard to distract Shizuko from the violin piece. So far, the game seemed to be holding her attention and keeping her from opening the violin case again.

He tapped her on the shoulder. "It's your turn."

"Just give me a minute," she said, hastily putting together her tiles. "I'm out of practice in Scrabble and…and…"

She stopped, her voice fading away into a kind of silence.

Ryuu looked up at her, raising an eyebrow expectantly. _And what?_

Her mind seemed to be taking her back to something else, something beyond the game they were playing. Her eyes were focused on the last four words they had spelled out.

_You could die, _she remembered him saying. _Your life could be in danger…_

_I hope not, _she thought to herself. _But I don't want to make him worry any further about me when the case isn't about me, but the other murders…I'm touched by his mild concern, but I just have to stick up for myself so that he doesn't need to bother with me…I realize he's just trying to be nice, but still—_

"Shizuko?" his voice broke her train of thought.

She looked up at him, her dark eyes meeting his—what exactly was the shade of his eyes, anyway? Black? Gray? Blue?

He pointed to the board. "It's still your turn."

"Oh," she said, snapping back to reality. "Right."

She laid out some new tiles. "Threat."

Ryuu studied the board for a moment, and then rearranged his tiles. Picking out several, he said, "Crime."

Shizuko looked at him, a slightly irritated look on her face. "This is not helping."

"I'm sorry, I still can't seem to take my mind off this state of affairs," he replied, slipping his hand inside the bag that held the other Scrabble tiles. "Huh?"

"Uh-oh," said Shizuko. "No more tiles?"

"None."

"Well, is there anything—?"

Suddenly, Shizuko's door burst open, and Kyu came waltzing in happily. "Hey, guys, I—"

Before Shizuko could warn him about the bag that Ryuu had placed near the door, Kyu tripped right over it and made direct contact with—

Ryuu and Shizuko's Scrabble game.

Tiles flew everywhere and scattered on the floor.

Shizuko made a face that looked somewhere between a cringe and a grin.

Ryuu simply looked surprised and…was that a faint smile on his face?

(It looked more like a smirk, really.)

Kyu looked at the mess he had done. "Ack!" he cried, leaping to his feet. "I'm sorry!"

"You're so clumsy, Kyu," Kinta scolded as he stepped gingerly into the room. However, he also tripped over the same bag that Kyu had tripped over, and so—

"Aaah!"

He landed face first onto a pile of tiles.

"You were saying about clumsy?" grinned Kyu.

That statement, however, earned the gold-eyed teen a whack on the head and a swollen throbbing lump.

Meg shook her head as she walked into the room. "You two are so careless…"

"Hey, Meg," Kyu called out from his spot on the floor. He had landed there when Kinta gave him the usual smacking on the head.

Meg stood above him. "You know you should really be more careful…"

Little did she know that Kyu was taking this opportunity to look up her skirt.

"Pink with polka dots! Wow! I haven't seen those for a while!"

_Uh-oh,_ Shizuko thought, backing away from the "couple".

She backed right into Ryuu, who was moving away as well from the fight that was going to ensue.

Shizuko shut her eyes as Kyu received another batch of beatings from the red-faced girl.

Kazuma walked in right when Meg was finished slapping Kyu. "Did I miss something?" asked the young computer genius.

"Nothing," mumbled Ryuu..

* * *

The meeting began with Kyu massaging the bumps on his head.

"Okay, so Kyu and I went through the nearby town today," began Kinta. "We checked every flower shop to see if any of them had sent a bunch of roses—without mentioning the poison—to the music school."

"So how'd it turn out?" asked Meg, guiltily handing over an ice bag to Kyu. He grinned up at her and proceeded with nursing his "injuries".

"We didn't get much information on that part," muttered Kinta. "Some stores weren't open, and all the stores we asked at said they didn't get any orders for the music school."

"That's not much help," said Shizuko glumly.

"What about you guys?" asked Ryuu, looking at Meg and Kazuma.

"Well, it turns out we were right, he was poisoned through the wounds on his hands," said Meg. "One of the roses in the batch that was sent to him was tested on and a deadly substance was found on the thorns…"

"What kind of poison?"

"It's somewhat like _curare_. They wouldn't really tell me what the poison was. It only works through wounds."

"I see…"

"I still think our best chance of finding the killer is the roses that were sent," said Ryuu. "Maybe we could check for the flower shops that weren't open before."

"What about you two?" asked Kazuma. "Did anything happen to either of you while you were here?"

"Nothing much," mumbled Shizuko.

"What do you mean, 'nothing much'?" said Ryuu, looking at her with a disbelieving look on his face. "You got a threat from the murderer and you say, 'nothing much'?"

"SHE GOT WHAT?" exclaimed the four other Class Q students.

"How?" asked Kyu.

"When?" asked Meg

"Where?" asked Kazuma and Kinta.

"And you ask me why I say 'nothing much'," sighed Shizuko, looking at Ryuu, a slightly annoyed look twisting her delicate features.

Ryuu looked back at her seriously, however, crossing his arms. "You can't withhold information from Class Q, you know that."

"I wasn't planning to 'withhold' it; I was planning to put it in a much milder way, rather than your shocking revelation."

"Is that so?"

"Yes it is, _Mr. Amakusa._"

"Well, then, _Ms._ _Miyahara_," said Ryuu, a considerably icy tone in his voice, "Proceed with explaining to the rest of Class Q the situation."

She gave him a very cold glare, then sighed heavily.

"I was playing The Nine Circles of Hell with Ryuu in his room—"

"Anything else you were doing?" Kinta interrupted with a devilish grin.

Shizuko glowered at him.

So did Ryuu.

Kinta shrank back into his seat, the smile fading from his face.

"Anyway," continued Shizuko, "When I was going through the last part of what I had copied, around the Fifth Circle, the lights went out. When they came back on, a note had been slipped under the door."

"A threat, huh?" said Kyu, putting a hand to his chin in thought.

"Yeah," said Ryuu, bringing out a the piece of paper. "Here it is."

Kyu took a look at it. "'Silence'?"

"What do you suppose that means?" asked Kinta.

"It's obvious," said Shizuko. "They want me to shut up before they target me as well."

Ryuu looked at the floor, thinking deeply.

"So far it seems like a kind of prank," said Kyu, reading the short message again.

"Maybe it's because she's not one of the violin students," said Kazuma, typing again on his laptop.

"That's true, the killer might not want to waste his time on an outsider," said Kinta, looking a little thoughtful.

"But even if that's the case, there's still a chance that she might be in danger," said Ryuu. "Although the killer seems slightly nervous at this point."

"How can you tell that?" asked Meg.

"Well, when has the killer ever warned one of the students that they were going to be next? All the deaths occurred without warning. Shizuko, on the other hand, was given a warning to stop first if she wanted to live. Now, when has a killer ever given a possible victim a chance at life?"

Class Q fell silent at that.

"Aside from that, the note is clearly an order to stop prying. The killer is nervous that we might discover something in this piece." Ryuu looked at the music sheets that Shizuko had dropped haphazardly on the table.

"Guys, I think that The Nine Circles of Hell is more than what we thought it was."

* * *

Later that evening, when everyone had agreed that they were tired—which was at nearly eleven o'clock—Ryuu was last to leave the room as usual.

"Go to bed," Shizuko muttered, trying to close the door on his retreating back. "It's late."

"Maybe I should stand guard over you tonight," he said, resisting her effort to push him out the door.

"And have Kinta and Kazuma make an issue out of it? Not a chance," she replied, straining against his force.

_Darn, he's stronger and more stubborn than I thought; I can't even push him out the door—_

"The killer could be anywhere, you need protection."

"And you think standing guard every evening will stop the guy? _Riiiight_. And I painted the Mona Lisa," she said in a cynical tone.

"It might offer you a certain level of safety."

"I'll lock the door tonight. That's ONE level of safety."

"It might not be enough; he's killed people in locked rooms."

"He's not after me yet." She continued to push against his (increasingly ANNOYING) strength, which was a barely a strange feat—he was holding the door with only one hand.

"He's sent you a threat."

"You said it yourself, 'when has the killer ever warned one of the students that they were going to be next'?"

"I said with the intention of proving that he was after you."

"Who are you, my overprotective big brother? I've already got one at home," she said, trying to push him out, but to no avail.

"So that was your brother who answered the door when I came to see you about…." He stopped short, memories of his past jolting him.

"Yes. I know what you're talking about. Now please go to bed, I'm tired. And don't worry about me."

Reluctantly, Ryuu removed his hand from the door. "Good night, then."

_Finally! _she thought, all the frustration evidently etched on her face.

"Good night," she replied, closing the door and locking it.

She collapsed into her bed and hid under the sheets.

_At least he doesn't have to see me cowering under this thing.

* * *

_

The very next day, things seemed just a little bit more tense than usual.

Kazuma and Kinta were staying in the school, along with Ryuu and Shizuko. However, everyone seemed to have gone separate ways that morning.   
Kyu and Meg weren't around. While Kinta made a very inappropriate joke about their wanting to have some time together, _ALONE_ and _PRIVATE_, Ryuu picked up a note that had been left behind on the table in Kyu's room.

_Hey guys—_

_Meg and I went into town this morning to check on the flower shops. We're also taking our investigation somewhere outside the boundaries of the school—maybe someone's heard of the Maestro and his students._

_Anyhow, there's no need to worry, you guys just take on things for now over there._

_-Kyu_

_Kinta—_

_DON'T YOU DARE THINK THAT KYU AND I ARE OUT ON A **DATE.**_

_This is an INVESTIGATION._

_-Meg_

Kazuma snorted loudly when Ryuu showed him that part of the letter. Kinta looked ready to hit Ryuu over the head, but changed his mind and hit Kazuma instead.

Shizuko wasn't there to see the squabble though—they hadn't really seen her for most of the morning.

They all simply assumed she was still asleep, considering that it was quite early in the day.

While Kinta and Kazuma checked on the rest of the rooms in the house—amidst arguing—Ryuu passed by the door of one of the practice rooms.

"Can you believe the nerve of that girl?" an annoyed voice reached his ears.

He stopped in his tracks. _What..._

"Who, that skinny little spitfire of a tomboy?" Satoshi's voice came across.

_Tomboy? But who— _

"Yeah her. Who does she think she is, waltzing around as if she actually studies here?" That was Yui.

"Well, she has the talent to be here."

_Yamato's voice._

"But she doesn't even study here. It's all Minoru's fault for letting her in." Satoshi said.

"She's not bothering us." _That's Kazumi._

"She's still a snoop."

_That's Yui again. Are they talking about Shizuko?_

"What's your problem anyway? She's not doing anything wrong…" Kazumi said, confused.

Ryuu wrinkled his brow, listening as carefully as he could without being seen. He pressed himself against the wall, placing his ear as closely as he could near the doorframe.

"But look at her. She practically thinks she's at home! And with all these murders going around, she's not even thinking of leaving?" Satoshi interjected.

"What are you thinking? You're not thinking that she might mess around with the inheritance, are you?" Yamato said.

"She might, with all her poking around. And those friends she's with, too."

"That's ridiculous! She's not even part of the will, why should she mess with it? Sometimes you're just too paranoid, Satoshi!"

"Paranoid? What do you mean, paranoid?"

"She's not even doing anything to bother any of us and you're making an issue out of it!"

"Look at it this way—if all these weird happenings don't scare her off the killer will go after her next. She is a target waiting to be hit."

"How do you know that?"

"Because she seems to be very interested in the composition by the Maestro."

Ryuu didn't wait to hear anything more. As quickly as possible, he ran to the direction of her room.

"Shizuko. Shizuko, open the door." He knocked on it.

No answer. He knocked again. "Shizuko."

He sighed. _You leave me no choice._

After checking to see that no one else was around, he fished out the lock-picking set from the DDS notebook.

He picked the lock as quickly and as quietly as possible.

Slowly pushing the door open, he stepped into the room.

Shizuko was still asleep in her bed, mumbling something inaudibly.

He shook her by the shoulder gently. "Shizuko—"

_**WHAM.**_

He found himself knocked backward into her bedside table, clutching his nose. "Ow."

Shizuko was finally stirring. "I-aaagh—wha—"

She caught sight of him rubbing his nose next to her table. "Oh, no, I'm _so_ sorry…Did I hit you?"

"At least it's nice to know you can defend yourself even while you're asleep…" muttered Ryu.

"I'm sorry…"

"Anyway, that's not the issue here," he said, sitting down next to her on the bed. "Some of the violin students are kind of…shall we say, _concerned_ about your stay here."

"They hate me," said Shizuko, understanding what he was trying to say.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say 'hate', more like annoyed."

"They think I'm butting in on their lives, aren't they?"

"Something more along the lines of using their facilities without being a student here."

Shizuko sighed, looking down at her sheets. "I should have known that this issue would come across to them."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I still need to take a look at the Maestro's composition. I'm beginning to think that it's the key to unlocking this entire case—wait a minute, how'd you get into my bedroom?"

Ryuu held up the lock-picking instruments. "I picked the lock."

_And you tell me to lock the door for my protection when you can easily get in with a lock pick,_ she thought sourly.

"Oh. I hope you didn't damage the tumblers inside, anyone might be able to get in," she said aloud.

"I didn't. But you should really watch out for yourself, Shizuko. You're already a target."

"Not just yet, Ryuu. I haven't gotten anything else from our so-called murderer."

Ryuu looked around the room. "So what's that on the floor?"

"Oh no."

It was another note. Shizuko cringed as Ryuu gave her the usual warning look. He picked it up off the floor and opened it.

It was written the same way, the same block letters and red ink.

_**You've gone too deep into your perilous fate. Escape Hell now if you don't wish to remain in it for eternity.** _

"Well at least he was more poetic about it this time," Shizuko said with a laugh. "Better than a single word, anyway—"

She stopped when she saw that Ryuu wasn't laughing. As a matter of fact, he was glaring.

She sagged her shoulders in defeat. "I was just trying to keep things light…"

"The situation hardly calls for your kind of illumination," he replied with a severe sternness in his voice (almost as if he was angry at her for being in trouble YET AGAIN), getting up and placing the note on her table.

"You don't have to be so harsh about it," she said, slightly hurt.

"_I'M_ being harsh?" he asked indignantly, whirling around to face her.

She looked up at him. "You don't have to be so strict on me, you know."

"I'm not being strict on you, I'm just—"

"Being severely overprotective," she finished for him.

"I wouldn't say 'severely' or 'over'," he said, leaning on her table for support. He knew that Shizuko had hit the nail right on the head, but he wasn't about to admit it.

"In other words I'm right and you're refusing to admit it," she said.

He nearly gave a start. It was as if she'd read his mind.

"That's not the issue here," he said, steering the conversation to another point. "Your life is in danger and you couldn't care less that a killer who's murdered three people in a row is after you."

"If my not caring less about this murderer, whoever he may be, will help you focus on the _real_ issue here—which is the identity of our killer, I should remind you—then I'll keep it up!"

He opened his mouth to retort, but as the real meaning of her words hit him, he stopped short. She looked up at him with a deep inner pride in her eyes. It was clear to him that she was only being casual about the threats so that he could simply focus on the real case.

He sat down, silence reigning the room. She cocked her head at him, expecting an answer.

"I…I guess you're right," he said, owning up. He looked up at her. "But you're just keeping your fear down, aren't you? You can't be completely unconcerned about the whole thing."

"Of course I'm afraid. No one's immune to fear. But I don't want you to worry about me, what you really need to do is use that mind of yours to figure out who this killer is."

As usual, she spoke with a conviction that was hard to believe. He sighed heavily, hating to accept the fact that she didn't want or (as slightly proven by her swipe earlier at him as he tried to wake her) need his protection.

"Ryuu," she began again, "I don't want to distract you from what's important. I'm not supposed to be your concern. Just to what you do best. And once you solve this case fast enough, I'll be fine."

"Your confidence overwhelms me," he said with a faint note of sarcasm in his voice—faint enough to be noticed, but at the same time, sincerity was woven into the statement. "Just make sure you keep out of trouble for a while. If you really don't want me to worry, don't put yourself at too much risk."

"All right then. As long as you keep concentrating on finding our killer."

He got up from the chair.

"But just because I'm letting you off the hook now doesn't mean you can go off on your own whim. I'll keep an eye out for you."

"But I thought—"

"Not another word. I'm relaxing my precautions on you, but don't expect me to let you go so easily."

"Aw, man…" Shizuko groaned, collapsing back in her bed.

Ryuu smiled to himself and stepped out the door, making sure he closed it firmly behind him.

* * *

**Rants: Hah. As if Shizuko can easily escape Ryuu's high level of security. **

**What will happen next? Stick around. And I'm sorry for taking longer to update, my access to the computer's been restricted now. I can really only write on weekends. _–sigh-_**

**So, yeah. PLEASE REVIEW!**


	11. Questions Answered and Unanswered

**to my reviewers: **

**I'm glad that most of you are a little supportive of Ryu/Shizuko, XD**

**Don't worry, when I meant a Minoru-Shizuko scene, I meant it one-sided. Minoru is interested in her….for a very strange reason, actually. XD**

**That reason may be revealed. VERY soon, I hope. To be honest even I don't know where my story is going, but my killer was decided a long time ago. So I know my ending.**

**This chapter is short. Very short. i intended to post this at the same time as chapter 12, but i HAVE to do this.   
**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q.**

**

* * *

Chapter 11: Questions Answered and Unanswered  
**

Ryuu waited outside the room as Shizuko got ready for the day. He could hear her muttering and grumbling as she puttered about the room.

Inside the bedroom, Shizuko was mumbling annoyed phrases under her breath. Her head was throbbing from her not-so-pleasant wake-up call, and to make matters a little bit worse, her stomach was rumbling with hunger. She remembered that she hadn't eaten anything last night. Then again, she remembered, neither had Ryuu, but well…maybe that's why he was kind of thin. Thinking that maybe he had had breakfast already, she decided for herself that she needed to eat.

However…she still needed to know who among the students were pissed off by her presence. She thought about it as she brushed her teeth, washed out her hair in the little bathroom, and quickly slipped on a white sweatshirt and jeans.

She came out the door with crossed arms, still considerably goaded with Ryuu over their little conversation earlier.

"Who did you hear talking about me earlier?" asked Shizuko directly. Her head throbbed, protesting starvation, but she kept her face straight as her stomach gave another very unpleasant—and painful—roll.

"I remember Satoshi," said Ryuu. "And Yui, Yamato, and Kazumi."

"What about Minoru?"

"He wasn't there. They were actually blaming him for letting you—and the rest of us—into the school."

"I see. I wonder what he's up to. He's been a little out of the way since we came here."

"Well, he is technically still a suspect. His behavior is a little shady. Don't you find it odd that he only comes out to tell us about the other students, and yet disappears conveniently when an investigation has to happen?"

"That _is_ true, but he was with me for a time yesterday, at least that's one time he's not conveniently disappearing."

A memory of Shizuko and Minoru in the practice room flickered across Ryuu's memory.

Before he could ask her about it, though, she had already gone down the hall.

He strode quickly after her along the corridor. "Hey, you can't just go off like that."

"I'm hungry and I need breakfast. Sorry if I left you hanging back there."

"It's all right. Do you want company?"

"Sure, yeah…I'm starved; I didn't eat anything last night…"

"Neither did I."

"I know, but you've probably eaten already…"

Ryuu looked at her uneasily. "Uhh…actually…"

"You _didn't._"

He made a face.

"I don't _believe_ you." Shizuko stared at him in disbelief. "You haven't eaten?"

He shook his head, a little embarrassed.

She sighed as they entered the kitchen. "So what do you want to eat?"

"I'll eat anything, I guess…" Ryuu replied, sitting down at the kitchen table.

Shizuko took down some pans from the nearby rack. "Well, I'm going to get cooking, you just sit there and—"

Before she could finish the sentence, she slipped on a puddle that had formed on the floor near the sink.

"Ow…" she said with a wince, having landed on her side. The entire left side of her body was probably bruised now.

"Shoot," said Ryu under his breath. "Are you okay?" he asked, getting up.

She got up, placing a hand on the counter for support. "I'll live."

She set a pan down on the stove with a thump. "I really need breakfast now."

* * *

Kinta hung upside down on one of the trees in the garden. Kazuma was typing on his laptop at the base of the tree, completely ignoring Kinta, who was trying to comprehend everything the young programmer was encoding.

"Don't tell me you're trying to use your little program to solve this case again," said Kinta, his eyes squinting even further to read the text.

"It doesn't hurt to try," argued Kazuma. "My 'Detectivesoft' can always use a couple of improvements."

"A computer can't have all the answers," replied Kinta, doing a couple of sit-ups, his knees strongly gripping the tree branch he was hanging off of.

"Sure it can," said Kazuma stubbornly. "I can always make it that way."

"And how many times have you succeeded?"

Kazuma winced. "None."

"And don't you think it's about time you started thinking on your own?"

"How am I supposed to think on my own when you're hanging off a tree branch watching over my shoulder?"

"I'm here to make sure you don't fall prey to your old habit. You always—"

"—think about it too much," Kazuma finished irritably. "While you—"

"—don't care about details," Kinta muttered in annoyance.

Kazuma looked up at the brawny martial artist with a smirk. "Face it, Kinta. Even you have a bad habit in solving cases."

"Well, how do you think people solved cases without computers in the old days? They used intuition! Hunches! And they didn't obsess over details, either!"

"Well, we're not in the past, this is the 21st century. Or maybe you haven't evolved yet, you big ape."

Kinta nearly fell out of the tree "What did you call me, you little brat?"

"Well if you don't like to think in the confines of the era you're in then maybe you must have missed a step in the evolutionary chain!"

"Why you little—"

A scream pierced the quietness out in the garden.

This time, Kinta _really_ fell out of the tree—but he managed to control his fall and avoid landing face first. "What the heck was that?"

* * *

Meanwhile, the town below the violin school was just about bustling with activity.

Kyu was busy asking a fruit vendor, "Hey, have you heard about the things that happened in the violin school up there?"

Meg heard the reply, "Well, yes, there've been rumors goin' about town lately about the Maestro's death. Poor old man, and he was a fine musician too. We'd hear some of that music sometimes, if we were lucky that is."

"Is there anything else you might have heard about the students?"

"Well some of them come down here for errands, food and other personal comings and goings, but I don't know them very well."

Kyu thanked the vendor and walked back towards Meg. "I think the people down here thrive on rumors."

"Yeah, since there isn't much they can tell us," she replied.

"Do you think they even know much about that school?"

"I'm not sure. The Maestro may have lived there but maybe he didn't do too well at around before the time he died…"

Meg suddenly shrieked. A strong gust of wind suddenly _whooshed_ between them. As expected, the skirt she was wearing suddenly decided to fly upward, revealing a certain something that Kyu almost always seemed to be interested in:

"What's with those flowers on your—**_OUCH!_**"

Meg slapped him, her face turning almost the same shade as her hair.

"Jerk!" she snapped at him. She stomped off, her pigtails swishing behind her as she left Kyu writhing in pain on the ground.

* * *

Shizuko and Ryuu had heard the scream from the breakfast table, their heads jerking at the same time to the direction of the noise.

"Who was that?" Shizuko said, getting up.

"It sounded like Kazumi," Ryuu replied, pushing his chair backward almost violently. The chair almost clattered to the floor, but he caught it just in time before it hit the ground.

As the two of them rushed towards the direction of the shriek, they nearly bumped into Kinta and Kazuma, who had just rushed through the front door.

"You heard it too?" Kinta asked by way of greeting.

With a serious nod from each of them, they all got up and started making their way to wherever the cry had come from.

The location wasn't too hard to find—already, a small crowd had gathered at the door of—

"The music room," Shizuko whispered.

All the students were gathered in front of the music room except for one.

As the four DDS students came closer to the scene, they saw precisely what it was that completely immobilized the violin students.

Shizuko placed her hands over a mouth to stifle a soft gasp.

On the floor of the music room was the dead body of Yui. A large kitchen knife was lying on the floor nearby, with blood dripping off its edge. A pool of darkened blood surrounded her body, which seemed to have flowed from a stab wound underneath her rib cage.

But it wasn't only that scene which had everyone completely in shock.

Because kneeling next to Yui's dead body, hands dripping with crimson blood, was…

* * *

**Rants: Oops. Sorry. Really, i am. I need to leave you hanging. i can't help it. this HAS to be done. i'll put up chapter 12 as soon as i can. i promise. thank God for vacations.  
**


	12. SOS!

**Here you go, Chapter 12. Good news for all you Ryuu/Shizuko lovers. If you are. I am still a little hesitant to come out with their pairing. **

**Just tell me if I'm a little over the line. **

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q. I do want to own Ryu's pendant though. HAH. I'll just look for a clone in a local jewelry shop. XD

* * *

**

**Chapter 12: S-O-S!**

From her position on the music room's floor, Ms. Minamoto stared back at the students in horror. Yui's blood was dripping from a rag she held in her hands.

This was an unexpected twist that even the Class Q members did not expect. Even Ryuu was caught off-guard by the scene.

"Caught in the act!" said Satoshi, breaking the silence.

"No way…" whispered Kazumi. "Ms. Minamoto?"

The middle-aged lady stood up shakily. "I can explain…"

"What's to explain?" asked Minoru. "You were seen with her blood on your hands!"

_That's true, _Ryuu thought. _But that doesn't mean she killed Yui…_

"I didn't kill her!" cried out Ms. Minamoto. "Why would I do so?"

"It's all about the inheritance!" said Satoshi, fuming. "You've been killing students so that you could take this school!"

"I didn't kill Yui!"

"All right, that's _enough!_"

Everyone turned to Kinta, who had just slammed his fist on the door to get everyone's attention.

"The first thing we should all do is call the police," Kinta continued. "Ms. Minamoto, if you're innocent, you don't have any reason to run away from an interrogation, so don't."

"Everyone else, for the time being, stop accusing her. None of you have any proof that she killed your classmate," said Ryuu.

"But the mere fact that we saw her with Yui's dead body—isn't that enough reason to accuse her?" asked Yamato, turning to Ryuu.

"We'll leave that for the police to decide," said Kazuma.

With a few grumbles, the students left the scene, while Kinta went off to call the police.

All this time Shizuko had remained silent at one side of the hallway.

"You okay?" asked Ryuu, looking at her.

"Yeah, but…this just bothers me…" she replied. "She certainly looks suspicious, but still…"

"I don't understand this either, but we should really step up our pace now," Ryuu told her, "and we should bring Meg and Kyu up-to-date."

"I'll call on them," said Kazuma, walking out of the music room.

* * *

Meg's cellphone began ringing at a funky beat. 

"Come on, Meg, I'm sorry, can't you just—"

"All right, Kyu, you're forgiven, but wait, there's an incoming call…Yes, hello?"

The young programmer's voice came over the receiver. "Hey there, Meg. It's Kazuma. You'll never believe what happened this time…"

"What is it, Kazuma?" Meg asked, concerned.

"Yui's just been murdered!"

"WHAT?"

"Yeah, and get this—Ms. Minamoto was at the scene of the crime!"

"So she's guilty?"

"We're not certain. She keeps denying it. And it's just so weird…I have this feeling she's really telling the truth, Meg."

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't know. Something in her eyes, I guess. And there's something about that crime scene that bothers me as well…she was there with a rag in her hands. Maybe she was trying to clean up…"

"Do you want us to go back there?"

"No, no, you guys had better keep to yourselves down there for a while. Maybe there's still a clue in the town. I'm positive that there's evidence there. Ryuu, Shizuko, Kinta and I will take care of things up here."

"You're sure about that?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. We'll see you later."

"Bye…"

Meg disconnected the call and stared wordlessly at her phone.

"What is it?" asked Kyu.

She looked at him, pink-tinted eyes filled with worry. "You'll never believe the news…"

* * *

Shizuko stared at the crime scene, her gaze full of thought. "Who do you suppose killed her?" 

"I don't know yet," said Ryuu. "We can't tell for sure…" Ryuu put on the gloves from the DDS notebook and began inspecting the dead body. "She was stabbed several times, about underneath the rib cage…and I think she was also hit over the head with something…"

Shizuko slipped on gloves and picked up the knife. "This is weird…"

"What is it?"

"Something about the knife bothers me."

Ryuu stared at it. "Yeah…something isn't right."

Shizuko turned it over in her hands, being careful to hold it only at one end to avoid smudging any fingerprints. "I can see a bunch of bloody fingerprints on the handle, but…it was made on _top_ of the blood smear..."

"Is that wrong?"

"Well, technically, when someone stabs another, if there was blood, it would go _around_ the edges of the print, or _cover_ it…this set of fingerprints was left after the stabbing. It might be Ms. Minamoto's, if she picked up the knife when she'd gotten into this room…"

"That could be right…but something else about this knife bothers me…not the handle…but…"

Ryuu's traveled along the cutting instrument. "…the blade."

Shizuko looked at it intently as well. "Yeah…there's something not right about this…"

She squinted. "About how many inches of blood is there on this knife?"

"Approximately about five inches…"

"Five inches of blood and this knife's about 6-and-a-half inches, that's more than half the length of the knife," Shizuko murmured.

"Doesn't that mean that it's a crime of passion? Deep, serious stab wounds…?"

"Maybe but…how does a woman, that old, and that frail, stab someone and get more than three inches of blood on the knife?"

Ryuu's eyes widened. "We're looking for a different killer."

"A male," Shizuko affirmed.

"But which one? If you're right, then we still have three suspects to narrow down."

"I can't be sure…"

"We have to check up on each and every one of them. We need to pry into this now. This is serious." Ryuu frowned. "Let's go."

As the two of them stepped out of the music room, they spotted Detective Yoshimura striding down the hallway. After he had given them a quick salute, he asked about the situation.

"We've asked that old lady, Ms. Minamoto, about the killing, but she keeps denying it even though she's got blood on her hands. We're about to take her into custody, but we thought we should consult you first for any new developments."

Ryuu shook his head. "She's not the killer, Detective. We've taken the crime scene into consideration, and we've narrowed down our suspects to three…"

"So which one of those three is it?"

"We don't know yet," Shizuko replied.

"We still have a lot of investigating to do, sir, but we'd like you to stick around nearby in case anything happens."

Shizuko turned to Ryuu as soon as Detective Yoshimura left them. "What do you think we should do next?"

"Since we've narrowed down the field, maybe we can conduct a much more detailed investigation…can we take a closer look at those three?"

"I suggest we split up and take a look—"

Ryuu frowned, making her stop mid-sentence. "What is it?" she asked.

"I'm just worried…the killer's almost gotten everyone…"

"Are you worried that he's after me?"

_Well, YES, _he thought, but said out loud, "Only a little. So far he hasn't done anything but leave threats, but…"

"Well, I don't feel any sense of foreboding just yet, and we'd cover so much more ground if we go separate ways…"

Ryuu's face fixed itself to one of worry, but he quickly covered it up with one of determination. "All right. You'd better take care of yourself."

"I will."

They looked at each other, unsure of what to do before they parted ways, so Shizuko shrugged a little, casually, and ran off in one direction.

_You'd better be safe when I see you again, Shizuko. Or...well, I can't say I'll be held responsible for what I'd do next… _

He quickly strode down the other direction before he changed his mind about leaving her on her own.

* * *

As Shizuko rounded the corner and made sure she was out of Ryuu's sight, she leaned against the wall and sighed heavily, closing her eyes. _I know I shouldn't go alone, but I have to show him I'm strong enough to do this. I have to learn to make it on my own…_

She opened her eyes, thinking firmly, _I can do this. I'll find evidence on any one of them and make a break in the case._

She made her way quickly to the second floor, where most of the rooms were. She carefully peeked into the hallway. No one was around, and she couldn't hear any noise that indicated occupation of any of the rooms.

She carefully tried the doors, skipping over the rooms of those who had recently died, and passing over a room that was obviously Kazumi's—a nameplate had been nailed to the door.

She raised her eyebrow at a door that was half-open. Carefully pushing it open, she entered cautiously.

She couldn't tell whose room it was, but it obviously belonged to one of the male students, judging from the slight messiness of the room and the navy sheets that graced the bedspread.

She squinted at a small black box at the foot of the bed.

_What's that..?_

She stepped closer to it and picked it up with a gloved hand. "This looks like a tape recorder…"

As she pressed the "play" button, a faint strain of music reached her ears. But she couldn't seem to place it…

She pushed on a button to raise the volume, her brows knitting.

Her eyes widened as she began to comprehend what she was listening to.

And just as she was about to get up and tell someone about her new discovery—

"Ow!"

She had been struck on the back of her head. As she collapsed to the floor, a dark figure raised itself above her menacingly.

After checking that she was unconscious, the silhouette picked her up easily and heaved her on his shoulder like a prize.

_Oh, the trouble that this girl was in now…

* * *

_

When Shizuko came to, she was startled to see that…well, she couldn't see anything. A blindfold had been put over her eyes.

As she tried to move her arms, she felt bindings at her wrists.

_Oh, just BRILLIANT,_ she thought, frustrated. Her ankles were bound tightly, and a gag had been stuffed in her mouth as well.

_I am in SO much trouble, _Shizuko thought. _What the heck do I DO!_

She strained to listen for her assailant's footsteps, or a sign that he was there.

She fumbled with the bindings at her wrists. They were tight, but not as tight as the ones at her ankles. She could still move them a little. _Can I reach my penknife? No, wait, if the killer sees me he might kill me on the spot…I have to bide my time a little…_

She felt a small device slip slightly out of her pocket. _My cell phone! Of COURSE! But I can't talk, damn…WAIT._

Slowly moving her bound hands, she slipped her mobile phone out of her pocket. Being familiar with her phone, and remembering that she had put it on silent mode earlier, she managed to open her phone list, and called the first number listed there: _Amakusa Ryuu.

* * *

_

Ryuu's phone rang urgently. _Not a call at this time,_ he thought exasperatedly, taking it out of his pocket.

He checked the caller ID: _Miyahara Shizuko_.

Brightening a little, he answered it saying, "Hello? Shizuko?"

* * *

Shizuko felt a small vibration on the receiver of her phone, indicating that Ryuu had answered his phone and was now speaking into it. Thinking quickly, she pressed on one of the buttons on her phone.

* * *

Ryuu raised his eyebrow at the series of beeps that was now coming over the receiver of his phone. "Shizuko, what's going on?" 

_Beep-Beep-Beep Beep…Beep…Beep… Beep-Beep-Beep_

_Beep-Beep-Beep Beep…Beep…Beep… Beep-Beep-Beep_

He wrinkled his brow. "Come on, Shizuko, talk or something…"

The beeps only became more persistent. He began to notice a pattern in the regularity of the beat.

_Beep-Beep-Beep Beep…Beep…Beep… Beep-Beep-Beep_

_Beep-Beep-Beep Beep…Beep…Beep… Beep-Beep-Beep_

Abruptly, the call disconnected. Ryuu's eyes widened. "What—"

He tried calling back, but all he got was a recording, saying. _"We're sorry, the subscriber is either out of reach or the phone is unattended. Please try your call later…"_

_Yeah right, as if you're sorry,_ he wanted to snap at the recording. He ran down the hallway, narrowly avoiding Minoru, who was walking down the corridor.

* * *

Meanwhile, Shizuko had quickly disconnected the call, hearing footsteps coming towards her. She put the phone down on the ground, just so she could leave a trace of herself behind… 

The next moment, she felt herself being dragged out of an enclosed room and into the open air. The faint smell of chlorinated water reached her nostrils.

_Damn. Was I in the pool house? I could have grabbed a big net in the corner and used it to knock out the killer…_

She struggled against her captor, who only muttered, "Oh, so you're awake now…"

She felt additional bindings strap onto her ankles.

"Well, it doesn't matter. No one's going to hear you call for help, even if you tried."

Shizuko knew what was coming, and panicked.

_He's going to drop me into the deep end of the pool!

* * *

_

Kazuma blinked at him in confusion. "You think she's been what?"

"I think she's been attacked, you have to help me find her," snapped Ryuu at him impatiently.

"Hold on, hold on, you said you were talking on the phone with her before the line went dead."

"It wasn't exactly a conversation, she was sending over a series of beeps over the receiver. I think she was attempting an SOS. And yes, I need to you to see if you can get her last location while I was talking to her."

"Fine, fine, hold on," muttered Kazuma, connecting Ryuu's phone to his laptop.

After a few seconds of beeps and tiny whirring sounds, Kazuma declared:

"She wasn't that far from here at the time—last time you heard from her she was around the back area of the Music school."

Ryuu leapt to his feet. "Right. Thanks." He sped off.

Kazuma stared after him, bewildered. "He really needs to get his act together."

* * *

Ryuu nearly bumped into Kinta on his way out. 

"Whoa! Hang on, speed devil," said Kinta, grabbing Ryuu by the neck of the collar and stopping him in his tracks. "Tell me what's the hurry."

Ryuu stopped, and quickly explained, "I think Shizuko might have been attacked—her phone went dead when I was talking to her and I can't reach her, so we have to find her NOW."

"Okay, _now_ we can hurry," said Kinta, sprinting at his heels when Ryuu began running again.

Ryuu stopped at the entrance to the pool house at teh back of the school.

Kinta stepped in cautiously. "You're sure she was here?"

"She was, look," Ryuu replied, picking up a cell phone which had been dropped near the inside of the door. "This is Shizuko's mobile phone."

"That means she was here when she was talking with you, then."

"Kinta, can you see if you can find her or something?"

"I may not be a bloodhound and sniff for her, but look at this," Kinta said, pointing at the ground. "This looks weird."

"Those are drag marks," said Ryuu. "Something was dragged here…"

"Check that out, someone's been here recently," said Kinta. "Loads of odd-looking marks…aside from that, the water looks disturbed…"

Ryuu's eyes darted to the pool. _Could she be...no. Please, no. Anywhere but in…_

Bracing himself for what he could be seeing next, he walked closer to the pool and took a look.

With a new wave of panic, he realized what he was staring at.

"Shizuko!"

She appeared to have been tied by the ankles to a heavy piece of iron from the shed…in addition; her arms seemed to have been bound as well. A gag was over her mouth.

She was still struggling underwater though, which was a good sign.

Without a second thought he dove into the water, swimming quickly to where she had been crudely anchored to and took off her blindfold and gag. She stared at him in confusion, but before he lost any time, he cut the cords at her ankles using a penknife, and brought her to the surface.

She coughed out some water, choking. "Ryuu…"

As Kinta undid the bindings that were on her wrists, Ryuu held her by the shoulders. "Shizuko, are you all right? What happened?"

"I-I was in one of the rooms in the violin school, I found something in one of the rooms, the next thing I knew, someone hit me over the head. I don't know how he got me into the pool house, but my hunch is that he carried me out his window; it was just the second floor…"

As soon as her wrists were free, she quickly threw her arms around Ryuu. "Thank you…"

His eyes widened in surprise, and he looked up helplessly at Kinta, who was snickering. Ryuu flushed crimson.

Almost as if she'd just realized what she'd done, she let go of him, hiding a sudden blush.

Kinta thought mischievously, _Well, well, well, it looks like we've got ourselves a new set of lovebirds._

Shizuko stood up, along with Ryuu, and said, "Kinta, you'd better stop thinking what you're thinking or I will give you the worst beating you'll ever have in your life."

She walked off to the violin school, managing to look a little bit dignified underneath dripping wet clothes.

Kinta looked at Ryuu, asking, "How does she always _know_?"

"You're predictable," answered Ryuu simply, going past him to join Shizuko at the violin school.

"I take that as a personal insult!" Kinta called out to them.

Ryuu and Shizuko looked at each other and tried to hide the smiles on their faces at Kinta's ridiculous reaction.

* * *

Down at the small village, Meg stared solemnly at the flower shops. "Kyu, do you really remember the shops that you and Kinta visited?" 

"Yeah," said Kyu. "There were only a few of them, and only three weren't open on that day. I might need your photographic memory for this one, Meg…"

"What for? I don't know what flower shops you went to…"

"No, not like that. You remember the roses at Daisuke's room, right?" asked Kyu.

"Of course I do."

"Well, if you happen to see any similar roses in any of the shops, that might mean we've found it. Or if you spot a similar arrangement, then we'll know too."

"Oh," said Meg, understanding. "So that's why you asked me to come with you this morning."

"So, let's go!" said Kyu enthusiastically, pulling Meg behind him.

Meg jogged a little to keep up with Kyu's pace. The beautiful flowers caught her attention more than once, and she hated to hurry on because they were just so pretty to look at…

She just had to stop at one particular stand though, watching with a small smile on her face as the florist placed some fresh-looking daisies into a vase. Kyu, hyperactive as he was, kept going on for a few more stalls, but he stopped as soon as he saw Meg some distance behind him. He quickly made his way back towards her, grinning.

Meg smiled back at him, and noticed something in the next florist shop. She blinked in surprise at what she saw.

"What is it, Meg?" asked Kyu, looking a bit worried.

"Kyu, did you and Kinta go into that shop yesterday?" she asked him taking him by surprise.

"That one?" asked Kyu, squinting at the shop she was looking at. "No, not yet."

"One of the displays there," Meg began slowly, "It looks a lot like the arrangement that Daisuke got…"

"What? Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Without any hesitation, Kyu grabbed at Meg's hand and pulled her into the next florist shop.

* * *

**Rants: YAY! This was an extra long chapter. LOL. More suspense in the next—the killer and the method may be revealed! (Maybe. XD)**

**Watch out for the next chapter! The mystery is close to an end!**

**And PLEASE REVIEW!**


	13. Embarrassment

**First of all, I'd like to say…**

**I AM SO INCREDIBLY SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING. I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRRYYYY.  
I couldn't bring myself to write for quite a LONG while. FORGIIIIVEEE MEEEEE.**

**Here it is, Chapter 13. Oh please don't kill me yet…_-sob-_**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q.**

**On with the fanfic!**

**by the way, i'm concerned about the sweetness and other randomities between Ryuu and Shizuko in this chap. aaagh. this is what happens when you don't write for a few months. _-dies-

* * *

_**

**Chapter 13: Embarrassment**

Ryuu and Shizuko were both surprisingly quiet as they both stalked into the violin school's back hallway.

It wasn't that neither of them knew what to say—in fact, both of them were abuzz with thousands of questions. However, something in both of their vocal chords wouldn't let them say a word.

For Shizuko, it was embarrassment. It was taking hold of her vocal chords and strangling them, keeping her from saying anything. However, overpowering the embarrassment was a thought that had awakened in the back of her head, which had been pushed there in the panic of the sudden attack on her. The case once again resurfaced in her mind, and something about it was absolutely not right.

Seeing that Ryuu was not making an effort to shatter the silence, she remained quiet throughout the walk to her room.

As for Ryuu, he did not particularly care that Shizuko was not saying a word. Aside from the fact that he did not want to say something he might regret, he was also very much used to her erratic bouts of silence.

The bouts of silence didn't come very often, but when they did, it was usually very intense and focused. He'd first noticed it in Mr. Hongou's classes, when no matter how hard or deafeningly their instructor shouted, Shizuko would neither react nor say a word unless she would be called upon to recite.

It was the same with their cases. Once in a while there was this silence that would wrap itself like a cocoon around her, keeping even him from reading what was on her mind. She would stare almost blankly, focusing on a single object in front of her and she would never take her dark eyes off of it, as though determined to memorize every facet, every detail. The stare was, he had to admit, rather mesmerizing and fascinating to observe. It was a challenge for him and his deductive mind to figure out what was buzzing inside that stoic, unchanging façade.

The reason that her bouts of silence didn't come often was because she always, _always_, had something to say about _anything_ that came before her. The comment would usually be sarcastic, admittedly. Or sometimes philosophical. Whenever there was a situation before their class, she would make a cynical—although amusing—quip about it as an attempt to make them all relax and take the job well. This was the thing she'd added into Class Q. He, for one, appreciated the intelligent remarks she would make—it was a nice change from Kyu's hyperactivity, although the gold-eyed teen had that same purpose.

He realized just then that he still knew nothing about her. He could read her habits sometimes, and he knew about how to deal with them, but he didn't know anything personal. Her constant wisecracks and clever remarks had covered up the need for information and his curiosity. Those little jibes had piled up and created a blockade he hadn't noticed, an unbreachable wall he hadn't seen until now. Things she preferred, things she disliked, things she feared…he tried to name them one by one, but nothing definite came into mind.

Not just yet, anyway. But he decided not to pry. Maybe those things would show up in time.

But as of now, the insurmountable barriers she'd placed between herself and Class Q were yet to be scaled, and he had doubts that he'd be able to get past those walls.

He'd been so engrossed in his thinking that he failed to note that they were at Shizuko's bedroom door. He was only aware of it when he heard a strangely familiar clinking.

_Clinking..?_

He looked down at the source of the noise, and found several silver bracelets on Shizuko's wrist. They jingled as she grudgingly turned the knob and stepped into her room.

He didn't know why he didn't notice before, but she wore them occasionally. Maybe he hadn't noticed her wear them this morning underneath the long-sleeved shirt.

As he entered the room, she tossed him a large fleece towel. He stared at it blankly for a second before realizing that he too was wet from their dip in the pool. She glanced at him wordlessly as she wrung the water out of her hair and clothes. He looked back at her curiously, not understanding.

For a moment she looked away, and then, she looked back up at him, and he realized what she was trying to say.

_Thank you…_

He nodded his understanding, and looked out her window to watch the late afternoon sun sink behind the horizon line.

They sat in silence, embarrassment looming over both of them.

Shizuko began pacing the floor restlessly. "This isn't over, though…"

Ryuu raised an eyebrow.

"I can't be mistaken, but I don't have indisputable proof either…"

"When Kyu and Meg arrive, maybe we can put the pieces together. Calm down."

She threw up her arms irritably. "Even if we prove it's him, it's only half the case that will be solved."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about this!"

Papers fluttered on the bed, some landing facedown, but Ryuu recognized them immediately.

"The Nine Circles of Hell…"

"Exactly."

Shizuko looked up at him. "Ryuu, I think it's the will."

He looked back at her, barely surprised. "What makes you assume that?"

"I can feel a pattern forming when I'm playing the piece. And something that the Maestro wanted so much to finish that he'd continue till his dying day? I think that's a big tip-off."

"It makes sense."

"But Ryuu, to get this all done, I'm going to need the rest of the piece," she said, getting up and making for the door.

Ryuu blocked the entryway. "Don't. I'll get them."

"_Ryuuuuuuu,_" she said exasperatedly.

"Kinta's on his way to guard you. I'll be back in a few minutes."

And with that, the door slammed shut on his retreating figure.

"Dammit."

* * *

Sure enough, as Ryuu had said, Kinta entered the room. "So he's off on another crazy tangent, now, is he?" 

"And not taking me along for the ride," muttered Shizuko.

"Well, that's natural for a guy like him. He's a little extreme when people are in danger."

Shizuko pouted, resting her chin in her palms. "I don't want to risk him too, even if he's not a violinist."

"He can take care of himself. He doesn't really look it, but there're a lot of defensive skills under that skinny frame of his."

Shizuko pouted even more, her lower lip jutting out so much that someone could have tripped over it. "Right."

Kinta ruffled Shizuko's hair with a big grin, messing it up completely and tangling a few locks. "Don't worry about the guy."

Moments later, Ryuu opened the door to Shizuko's room. "I've got it."

"_Greeeaaaaat,_" Shizuko said sarcastically. "Please give them to me."

He handed them over, and Shizuko took a better look at the last four pages. She squinted at them however, and rummaged around in her desk for her glasses.

"You can't read them?" asked Kinta.

"Of course I can," she said. "I just need a clearer sight of these notes. There might be faint marks on the pages themselves."

"True," said Ryuu thoughtfully. "Unless he was able to completely memorize the way he created his code, he might have written the translation somewhere on the piece itself as a guide."

"Unless this is a copy of the finished piece after all the edits," said Shizuko suddenly, putting down the papers. She sighed. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all…"

"Of course it wasn't," said a grumpy voice from the doorway.

The three teenagers looked up at the sound of the voice. "Kazuma," said Ryuu, nodding at him in greeting.

The miniature genius crossed his arms. "If you wanted an expert in code breaking why didn't any of you consult me?" he asked irritably.

"I didn't think much about it till now," Shizuko said apologetically. "And this isn't just an ordinary code; this needs knowledge of music as well…"

"So let's get to work!" said Kazuma, clapping his hands for emphasis.

He immediately opened up his laptop and began typing away. "Give me the piece, I'll copy it over neatly on my computer."

Shizuko hesitated. A minute too long.

Kazuma grumbled and snatched the papers from her.

She looked at Kinta and Ryuu, who merely shrugged in reply.

Before Kazuma could finish setting up his computer, Kyu and Meg busted right through Shizuko's door. "Is it true?" asked Meg. "Shizuko's been attacked?"

"Yes, but I'm fine now," replied Shizuko. "What did you find down in the village?" she added.

Kyu turned to her. "Well, we found a flower shop there with a flower arrangment in the window that was similar to the one that Daisuke received. But guess what? According to thr florist, no one had sent an arrangement to Daisuke at all."

"But how's that possible?" asked Kinta. "Surely when someone sends a bunch of flowers to someone you'd make arrangements with the florist before you send it."

"That's right, and that includes the name and adress of the person you're sending it to, as well as who sent it," added Shizuko.

Kyu grinned. "But, we didn't say that there was no delivery to the violin school at all."

"Wait, wait, so what are you saying?" said Kinta, confused. "I thought you said there was no delivery for the guy."

"That's right, but it doesn't mean that there wasn't one in the school," supplied Meg.

"Ah!" exclaimed Shizuko. "So you mean to say that no one ordered the flowers for Daisuke, but there was one sent to this school that was poisoned later on and then set up in Daisuke's room to make it look like there was a delivery."

"Exactly," said Kyu.

"That's a good way to cover one's tracks, but then, whoever sent it or received it would be major suspects," said Ryuu. "So, who were the sender and the receiver?"

Kyu laughed. "Well, at first we thought it was a conspiracy, but then it turns out, the sender sent the flowers to himself in this school."

"Brilliant," said Shizuko. "It narrows the field to exactly one."

Ryuu smirked. "And we have our proof."

* * *

Kazuma looked up from Shizuko's desk. "When you're done with your chit-chat, you guys, I've finished setting up. Shizuko, you'll have to help on this one." 

The dark-haired girl shrugged. "Okay…"

"So how do we start?" asked Kazuma, showing Shizuko the music sheets that had been transcribed on the computer screen.

"Well, there's a set of finger positions for every note," Shizuko began. "If you can manage to match up every single possible one, and do so for the rest of the piece, and then, 'play' it on the screen showing all the finger positions, maybe we'll see something."

Kazuma scanned in an image of a violin's fingerboard. "Take out your violin."

Shizuko unzipped her violin case and held the instrument under her chin as though she were playing.

The miniature programmer flashed an illustration of a musical scale on his screen. "Show me the finger positions for each note, and we're done."

The young violinist sighed heavily. "Fine, fine…"

And so it began, while the rest of Class Q watched tham work. Kyu and Meg merely shrugged at the businesslike partnership of the two, while Kinta placed his hands behind his head in a relaxed position. "Well, I guess we're not needed much in that area."

Kazuma got up as soon as Shizuko finished demonstrating the musical scale. "Okay, that's it."

"You've got it?" asked Shizuko in disbelief.

"Not yet, don't be impatient," said Kazuma almost snappishly. "This piece is long, it's going to take me almost one night to decode this."

"One night!" said Shizuko in surprise. "The killer could have taken out someone else by then!"

"Maybe not," Ryuu interjected. "He's got two bodies down for today, or, in his point of view, three," he continued, looking at Shizuko. "I say he won't try anything tonight."

Kyu nodded his agreement. "No killer would try to take out too many in one day, not unless he had nerves of steel. He wouldn't take it."

"Or maybe not," Kinta said thoughtfully. "Don't you think he'll be suspicious if he doesn't see that Shizuko's not dead and rotting in the pool?"

Shizuko twitched.

"That's true," said Kyu. "He'll know Shizuko's still alive and might go after her again."

"I'll stand guard for tonight," said Ryuu before Shizuko could say anything in protest (or rather, snap in annoyance).

The rest of the DDS students (except probably Shizuko) seemed fine with the idea, and left the room shrugging their shoulders indifferently.

* * *

Shizuko slammed herself in the bathroom to take a warm bath before going to bed, explaining it away by saying she wanted to avoid catching cold and such (although she was probably doing it to gain a little privacy). 

She could hear Ryuu's footsteps near the locked door as she turned on the warm tap.

"You're not going to push me out of keeping watch over you like you did last time, right?" he asked through the door.

She shrugged as she lowered herself into the tub. "I don't have any option now, do I?"

Silence reigned again as Ryuu racked his brain to keep the conversation flowing. "Why didn't you want me to back then, anyway?"

Another shrug from behind the closed door. "I didn't want you to worry."

Moments later, a knock on Shizuko's bedroom door brought them both back to their senses.

"Ryuu, could you please get that?" she asked him.

He was already ahead of her, and opened the door to find Kinta in all his cocky, grinning glory.

"What is it?" the blue-haired genius asked, giving the older teen a look that obviously said, "don't-you-dare-say-anything-stupid".

"Relax, you little worrywart, Kyu just asked me to give you this." With that, the martial arts expert handed him a change of clothes.

Ryuu stared at the shirt and jeans that now settled rather haphazardly in his arms. "Thanks."

"Not a problem. You need it since you're still soaked from your heroics in the pool."

Ryuu attempted to give him a deadpanned stare, but he failed, and the older boy grinned. "See ya tomorrow," Kinta said, waving as he sauntered down the hall.

Ryuu shut the door behind him with a sigh. He had been almost sure that Kinta would be off on another crazy direction that would involve not only his own embarrassment but also Shizuko's. It was clear that whatever was on the other students' minds would probably be his doom.

Or at least his concept of the purest essence of utter mortification and discomfiture.

_Why do they love trying to get on other people's nerves?

* * *

_

**Rants: **to all the people who have stayed with me and my stories thus far, **I LOVE YOU ALL**. _–hugs everyone-_

And I'm sorry for keeping you all waiting, for, how long, several months? I'm really sorry about that. I haven't found time to write even through summer vacation and school weekends. And now that I'm in college…uhm. Everything is really complicated. If **_"The Nine Circles of Hell"_** is ever finished, it **MIGHT** just be my **last work. **Of course, though, you will all be the first to know if my going through hell will leave me with my senses so that I can keep writing more cases for you guys.

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**I love you guys. Really, I do. _–hugsquish-_**


	14. Not More Questions

**Another chapter, thank God. Seriously, what the heck is going on with me?**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q.  
**

**Chapter 14: Not More Questions

* * *

**

As she was still in the bathroom, Shizuko asked, "Who was that?" as soon as she heard Ryuu's footsteps come to a stop near the locked door.

"It was just Kinta," the reply came muffled slightly by the door.

"Oh."

Silence.

"Look, Ryuu—" Shizuko started just as Ryuu began, "Shizuko—"

Another awkward pause.

Shizuko stared into her bathwater. At the other side of their barrier, Ryuu propped himself against the door with a quiet sigh.

"What were you going to say?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"…"

"Shizuko."

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry about everything. You've been a real gentleman through this whole ordeal, and, well, I'm not used to that anymore."

"What do you mean by that?"

She shook her head, even though she knew he couldn't see her. "I'm not used to being looked after, since, you know, I had my rebel tendencies. Delinquency back then, well, it kind of turned me into someone who believes that standing on your own two feet means never asking anyone for help. And today, I shattered that concept."

She sighed. "I didn't mean to really push you away, Ryuu. I was just being selfish by not thinking about your good intentions, and ignoring your concern. So, yes…I'm sorry."

With his back still to the door, he turned his head to face it, unsure of his reply to what she'd just said. There was a momentary lapse of silence, then, a simple, "It's okay."

Shizuko found herself staring up at the closed door, wondering how Ryuu could take her statement so lightly. Or rather, the simplicity of his answer.

She finally got up, finishing her bath, and dressing up before she opened the door.

As she pushed it open, she continued, "Are you sure you're not mad at me?"

To her surprise, she was face-to-face with Ryuu, almost a little too close for comfort. She blinked a little to adjust herself to the sudden change in depth perception. His clear gray eyes were all she could see at the moment.

Realizing the abrupt closeness, he inched away. He merely nodded in answer to her question.

She wrinkled her brow, less than convinced, but she sighed and stepped away from the bathroom door to let him have his turn.

With the barrier still between them as he locked the door behind him, he asked, "Do you want me to leave you alone tonight?"

Shizuko sat down on the floor, leaning against the door. "I don't know."

He settled into his bathwater. "Confused?"

"Just a bit. Of course I'm worried that the murderer will come after me a second time. But I guess I'm a little too arrogant, thinking that I'm capable enough to look after myself when it happens again."

Ryuu sighed heavily, sinking underneath the bathwater in order to clean himself properly.

Several minutes of silence, broken only by the muted splashes of water in the bathroom, passed as the two of them mulled over their rather embarrassing situation.

As he rinsed himself off, he shrugged. "I may as well stay. Better safe than sorry…right?"

Shizuko fell silent for a few moments, then, mumbled, "Thanks."

"It's nothing."

As he got out of the bath, he put on the shirt and jeans that Kyu had sent over. After stretching a little, he pulled the door open, taking Shizuko by surprise. She fell backwards into the bathroom.

She would have had a nasty bump on her head if Ryuu hadn't caught her at the last minute.

As he helped her up, she started to thank him, but a second thumping sound caught their attention.

The two of them looked at each other, confused.

Shizuko's look said, "That was _not_ me."

Ryuu's face read, "That wasn't me either."

In unison, their eyes looked towards the bedroom door.

As quietly as possible, they stepped towards the door and opened it abruptly.

(I believe the next part is rather predictable.)

Kinta and Kyu fell face first into the room.

Shizuko crossed her arms. "Looking for anything, guys?"

Kinta blubbered, "We weren't eavesdropping or anything, if that's what you're thinking!"

Kyu chimed in. "Yeah, that's right! We…uh…"

"We were…uhh…we were just…"

"…Eavesdropping," said Ryuu and Shizuko together flatly.

Kinta grabbed at the back of Kyu's shirt. "No, we swear we weren't—really. Anyway we have to go now, I just remembered something important—BYE!"

With that, Kinta ran off at full speed, dragging the struggling form of Kyu behind him.

"For members of Class Q, sometimes those two can act like real idiots. No offense meant," remarked Shizuko as Ryuu closed the door, shaking his head in disapproval.

He looked at his watch. "It's almost 11 o'clock."

"Pretty late," mumbled Shizuko, covering her yawn with her hand.

Ryuu sat down on her desk chair. "Go to bed."

Although she felt like a child obeying his orders, she crawled under the covers. She sat up for a minute. "What about you? Aren't you going to sleep?"

"I probably won't get any," he answered without looking at her.

She frowned at him. "Don't overthink the case. You need rest too."

"I wasn't talking about the case," he mumbled, thinking out loud.

"What was that?" she said.

"Nothing. Go to sleep," he replied, flipping the switch and shrouding the room in darkness.

A moment later though, the bedside lamp flickered on.

"I thought I told you to sleep."

"I can't sleep without a light. Now good night, worrywart."

Ryuu shook his head with a small smile, amused at her response. "Good night."

She turned over in bed and promptly dropped off to sleep.

* * *

It was a rather dull vigil for him, and he could hear nothing but Shizuko's steady breathing as she slept into the night. As the clock struck midnight, he felt himself getting groggy. Placing an elbow on her desk, he leaned his chin in his hand, watching her sleep. She was restless for most of the evening, although he chose not to worry about it—she was probably dreaming. 

_It almost feels nice, watching over her like this…_

He immediately shook the thought out of his head. _Where did **that** come from? and **why** am I thinking this?_

…_is this really necessary?_ He thought with a pout.

_Oh, just 'fess up, this is because you really— _

_Agh! What is wrong with me?_

_You know what I mean. There's something about her, isn't it?_

This was getting ridiculous. He didn't need a mental mind wrestle at the moment when he was feeling a bit fatigued and out of his usual character.

Rationalism, Reason, and Logic seemed to have gone AWOL in the organized, almost military precision of the clockwork of his mind.

_Oh come on, this isn't a mental mind wrestle, it's a simple question._

Yeah, one that needed a simple answer…

_Not again! I must be going paranoid… _

He smacked his forehead in exasperation. Lack of sleep and low energy were doing this to him.

_Okay, that does it. I am not going to do more arguing with myself tonight._

He buried his face in his arms.

_What about keeping watch?_ His mind interrupted unpleasantly.

He had had enough.

"Shut up," he mumbled. The words echoed back to him.

And with that, thankfully, the voices in his head stopped.

* * *

**Rants: **was this too short for a chapter? Tell me if it was too short. 

haha, sorry if that last part kind of freaked you out, but I think every person has an out-of-character moment which is, incidentally, kind of in character. In my opinion, Ryuu has these moments of mental-mind-wrestling, especially when he's worried, or stressed out, or just plain panicked. If anyone remembers the part in the anime after he met Anubis, he did a bit of a monologue in his head, along with the voice of his grandfather and et cetera... That's what gave me the idea for the occasional "voices-in-my-head" moments in my fics.

………okay, FINE, I admit it, it's because I find it highly amusing. On my part.

Haha. Anyway…

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**EDIT! Oh my God. i'm editing this chapter to tell you all: THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH MY MONITOR. it will take me quite a while to update again, since i am TRYING to delay the deterioration of this old piece of junk. PLEASE understand--i am in great distress as of this very moment. i WANT to update, really, but i have to take things a little more slowly so that this monitor will not conk out on me. THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU.**

**i love you all.**


	15. Things Fall into Place

I hate myself.

I'm sorry you guys. Times have been really bad for me. I just want this finished. And I want to keep moving on as well. I know most of you might have grown tired of Detective School Q…but I want to keep it alive. I want to at least have SOME kind of purpose in even though I make plots almost rarely.

I would just like to say to ALL my readers, yes, ALL of you, even those who have stopped reading: **THANK YOU.** Thank you all so much for giving me a start in this whole fanfic-writing business. Thank you for the reviews, the support, the comments, the love, and most of all, for your time.

**I love you all. **

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q. Satou Fumiya deserves your worship and love more than me.**

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **

**Chapter 15: Things Fall into Place**

A red dawn descended on the violin school. Shizuko winced as a flash of light pierced through the room's blinds, making perfect contact with her closed eyelids, making her wake rather abruptly from a disturbing night's sleep.

As she muttered and grumbled, trying to get up from the bed, she vaguely made out the slumped form of Ryuu over the room's desk. He'd fallen asleep there, and it didn't look too comfortable a position for him.

As she tried to focus her blurry vision, her classmate's features became a little more distinct. Her feet busily shuffled around the edge of the bed, trying to reach the floor to search for her slippers—

_Crash._

"Ow."

She didn't bother to get up from the floor, still feeling rather groggy. "Murghpph blurghl," she muttered unintelligibly against the wooden planks.

A few moments later, Ryuu extended his hand to help her up. "Good morning," he said by way of greeting.

"G' morning," Shizuko replied, still sleepy. She grasped his hand and he helped her up. "Sorry for waking you."

"It's not a problem. Did you sleep well?"

She brought her hand to her face, trying to work the sleep gunk out of her eyes with her fingers. "Not really," she answered, looking a little childish as she did so. "Nightmares, mostly."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, it's nothing. It wasn't that horrible."

They both heard a mild shuffling of feet at the door, so Ryuu peeked through the peephole. "It's Kazuma," he said, opening the door.

"Well, good morning. Looks like you guys didn't sleep well," greeted the pint-sized computer genius.

"You got that right," Shizuko mumbled.

"Yeah," Ryuu muttered.

"This ought to cheer you guys up, then," Kazuma continued, closing the door carefully with his foot as he brought out his beloved laptop. "I managed to figure out what The Nine Circles of Hell is hiding."

"You did?" asked Shizuko a little excitedly. "Is it a will?"

"You'll find out later. We've got the get the rest of Class Q in on this. And aside from that. I got further details on Daisuke's autopsy."

"So what was the story?" inquired Shizuko, curious. "Was he really poisoned with the roses?"

"Yes," said Kazuma. "The poison is known as Strychnine. It's—"

"I've read about that," interrupted the dark-haired girl. "It was used before in arrow poisons."

"That's right. It comes from the Strychnine tree, an evergreen that's native to Southeast Asia. We've probably got some species scattered around the country too. And this place, even though a lot of construction has gone on to build this school; it's a wide open area suitable for the habitat of one of these trees."

"I checked Daisuke's pulse when we came into the room," put in Ryuu. "He was oddly stiff already, and _rigor mortis_ already set in. It's an effect of the poison, I suppose?"

"Yeah," stated Kazuma. "Strychnine produces some of the most dramatic and horrible deaths. It's often been used in film and literature.

"Strychnine causes muscular convulsions, ending in asphyxia or total exhaustion. You get muscle spasms that spread all over the body starting from the head and heck, and any other stimulus would only make it worse. And then your body would freeze, causing rigor mortis to set in."

"It's one of the worst deaths imaginable," commented Shizuko.

At that moment, Kyu, Kinta and Meg carefully opened the door and entered the room.

"Are we all ready?" asked Kyu, holding up his DDS badge.

Everyone else nodded. One by one, each of the young detectives fastened their badges on their collars.

"Let's go catch ourselves a killer."

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Four DDS students entered the music room later that afternoon.

Kyu, Meg, Kazuma and Ryuu all looked around the area with grim expressions on their faces.

Five pairs of eyes stared at them apprehensively. Kazumi's expression looked particularly scared. Yamato's face was beset with confusion and slight anger. Satoshi looked annoyed, while Minoru simply looked curious.

Ms. Minamoto could only do nothing but look both relieved that she had mot been arrested the day before, but like Minoru, she was also curious to hear what the four young detectives had to say.

Kyu started. "I suppose you're all wondering what we've all called you here for."

"Like heck we are," grumbled Satoshi, irritated. "What's the big idea?"

"You will all know in due time," responded Ryuu calmly.

"First of all," persisted Kyu, "We all came here a few days ago, coming onto the campus as friends of Minoru. In actual fact, we came here because Minoru asked us for help. We are from DDS."

The usual expressions of startled surprise broke out all over the room.

"DDS?" whispered Kazumi in awe, "The one that's run by the famous Morihiko Dan?"

"The one and same," said Kazuma, opening up his computer.

"Minoru, is that true?" asked Yamato, turning to the green-eyed young violinist. Minoru only nodded mutely in response.

"We came here to solve the death of Fumika, but we were bombarded with more deaths as we stayed. We had no choice but to take on each one of them as well…and today, everything finally fell into place," added Meg.

"There are **_3 clues_**!" pronounced Kyu, raising three fingers, as was his habit. "One, is the Maestro's final work, The Nine Circles of Hell. The second clue was the details that surrounded the death of Daisuke. And the third…was a lie told during the police interrogation."

"**_There can only be one answer!"_** he said finally, leaving the rest of them confused and staring back at him, eyes contracted in sudden dread.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **Rants:** CLIFFHANGER! End coming very soon. FINALLY, The Nine Circles of Hell is coming to a close! Stay tuned for the last chapter: **The Grand Finale. ** Hope you enjoyed the (long and seemingly unending) progress I've made so far, and…

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	16. The Grand Finale

**The last Chapter for the Nine Circles of Hell! I hope you enjoyed the adventure, no matter how long it took. Heheh.**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q.**

* * *

**Chapter 16: The Grand Finale**

"How dramatic," smirked Satoshi, getting up from his position on one of the music room couches. He stood with a cocky grin on his face. "You may all be from DDS but you're still a bunch of kids. If you've got something on these murders, why don't you spit it out now?"

Minoru gave him a look of annoyance. "Satoshi, just sit down. Whether they're kids or not, I want to hear what they have to say. Besides, they've done a lot more than any of us have when it came to the case."

Satoshi didn't look too happy about being told off, but he sat back down. "What's to explain, anyway? The entire thing was done by some wacko."

"That's not it," Kyu said, shaking his head. "What surprised me most about this case was the great care that the criminal took to plan out these things, but some of his plans went wrong at the last minute. He also failed to cover up his tracks at some point. And that's what we focused on."

The teen's gold eyes stared them all down as he raised his first finger. "I'll start with hint number one: The Nine Circles of Hell."

"When we first arrived at the music school," continued Meg, picking up from right were Kyu left off, "We came just in time to hear the reading of the will of Maestro Maeda. The fact that there was a second will intrigued us. Everyone assumed that it was something hidden, something that we had to look for, but we were wrong…in fact…

"The Nine Circles of Hell, the final work of the Maestro, was actually a coded message wherein the will was concealed."

The violin students were all in shock at the announcement.

"It all comes together," added Ryuu. "It was said that Maestro Maeda had made his decision a few months ago, as to who would inherit his violin. Another detail is that he was also very interested in codes and ciphers. It led us to believe that he may have left his will in an obvious, but not an easily determined manner. The timeline when he made his apparent decision and when he started composing the piece all fall into the right places."

"Also," said Kyu, "Putting his will in something like a violin composition would make it last. There was no chance for it to get lost in the garbage or to get destroyed or altered. He knew that his life's last work was going to be treasured."

"How is that supposed to be a clue?" snapped Satoshi. "All that tells us is that we can stop searching for that will and we'll know once and for all who is going to inherit this school."

"It tells us a lot," answered Kyu vehemently. "Like the fact that the killer didn't know who was the heir. It also tells us that even those he's found the will, he has no idea how to crack it. and it also tells us that he's desperate to keep people away from it…"

"…by killing each and every person who comes into contact with it," Ryuu put in. "The purpose was to discourage anyone from being interested in it any further, but it backfired. When it was played in public by Daisuke, the killer knew he had to make his kill quick before anyone else could figure out anything he'd missed."

"Which brings us to hint number two," resumed Kyu. "The details surrounding Daisuke's death. Kazuma?" he said, inviting the young computer genius to step up.

Kazuma nodded. "I managed to get information on the poison that killed him. It was Strychnine, a deadly poison that was often used in arrow poisons, but it can also kill someone in other ways, by inhalation, ingestion, et cetera. it comes from the Strychnine tree, and it's native to Asia. By the way, I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of species were around here somewhere."

"It produces some of the most painful symptoms imaginable," added Kyu. "After you're exposed, you convulse unstoppably, starting with the head and neck, and if anything tried to touch you, it'd only get worse…and you die."

"Pretty bad way to die," remarked Kazuma. "But the killer didn't really care. After all, we were all in the comfort and safety of the music room, where we couldn't even hear him screaming, if he tried. The music room is completely soundproof."

"Speaking of sound, it's been pretty integral to this case, hasn't it?" Kyu pressed on. "It was even used by the killer to trick someone, in order to provide himself with an alibi for Ayame's death, and possibly for many others as well. That was the third clue."

Meg continued. "During the police interrogation, Minoru told us plainly about who had been doing what at the time that Ayame died. But since we can't always take a secondary source when it comes to alibis, we'd like to hear it all from you once again. Please repeat what you told the police."

"This is a waste of time," grumbled Satoshi. "I already told them that I was playing the violin in my room."

Minoru cut in, "When Daisuke and Yui were still alive, their alibis were like I told you: Daisuke was watching TV while Yui had been asleep. I was on my way to the kitchen at the time and I could hear Daisuke with his TV on, and Satshi with his violin."

"I was sleeping that time too, I told the police," stated Yamato in a confident tone.

"Same here," mumbled Kazumi.

"So far all you've done is confirm our theory again," Meg said, picking up from where they had left off. "We just needed to hear it from a more direct source, and now we know it for sure—one of you lied at the interrogation, and you're still lying about it now. Everything is in place."

"What do you mean?" asked Ms. Minamoto, trembling. "You can't be suggesting that someone among us here in this room is a murderer…"

"That's exactly what we're suggesting, ma'am," answered Kyu. "No, let me correct myself: that's exactly what we _believe_. And that person, the one who's been lying all this time…" Kyu raised a finger to point.

Everyone in the room waited with bated breath.  
Kyu directed his index finger unswervingly at…

"…is you…**_Satoshi!_**" he finished, the edge of drama apparent in his tone.

The pale-haired boy looked shocked for a few seconds, then burst into laughter. "Do you realize what you're saying, kid? You're accusing me of a serious crime here!"

Satoshi stood up, a cocky grin lighting up his twisted features. "Everything you just told us is based on theory, and besides, anyone here could have done it. Anyone here could have lied to the police. Look at Minoru—he's the one who doesn't have a firm alibi for Ayame's murder! Who can say he was going to the kitchen like he said? He could have easily killed the girl by then!"

Ryuu, who had stayed in the background for a short while as Kyu took the spotlight, suddenly gave off a sardonic chuckle, causing Satoshi to glare at him in annoyance. "Got something you want to say, blue boy?" he spat, the anger apparent in his tone. "Don't tell me that this is all you DDS students have to present to the authorities. You haven't even showed us any proof that I did anything!"

"_Au contraire_, my friend," Ryuu pronounced in his usual calm manner, "We _do_ have evidence to support our theory."

"So show it, you little brat or I'll—"

Satoshi stopped short as something suddenly came over everyone.

Strains of violin music reached the ears of every person in the room. The door had been open for all this time…and now music was streaming through it from outside.

Shizuko stepped into the room, carrying a small black box in her gloved hand. Satoshi looked as though he didn't know whether to be furious, scared, or wary.

The dark-haired girl held out the object she had in her hand. "Does this look familiar, Satoshi?"

"Never seen it before," he muttered defensively.

"No? Well, allow me to refresh your memory, you little liar," she said, seething. "This is what you attacked me for yesterday afternoon! And in case you don't remember that either, I suppose it's just _mere coincidence _that this tape"—she jiggled the recorder closer to his face—"happens to play music that you play on your violin!"

She turned off the tape abruptly, causing a ripping sound to emanate harshly from the speaker. "Every player's style is unique. Surely, living in this school has taught you that. Therefore you couldn't just use any random recording to cover your tracks—you had to record a true sample of your own music. And if you still deny the fact that this recorder is yours, I'm sure that the forensic analysts will be glad to lift your fingerprints from it."

Satoshi could do nothing but glower at her.

"That takes care of the alibi," said Ryuu, taking over. "If I were you, Satoshi, I think it would be better if you watch what you say. Because this is only the beginning of the trail of clues leading to you."

Kyu began again. "If this isn't enough, well, there's also the case of Daisuke's murder. We discovered during our trip into town yesterday that someone had ordered a flower arrangement to be delivered to the violin school—but it wasn't addressed to Daisuke at all."

"You mean those flowers weren't supposed to be for him?" asked Yamato, a little tense. "Was it targeting anyone else? Was it all just a big mistake?"

"To be honest, yes, it was a big mistake, bit on the killer's part," Kyu explained. "He had forgotten that the flower shop keeps records of the person who was requesting and also the person it was to be delivered to. Even if it didn't have a card, no doubt the person who sent it would be in the flower shop's records.

"The killer…sent the flowers to himself! Satoshi's name had been listed as the receiver and also as the sender. He probably received them ahead of time, just enough to prepare them for his plan and apply the poison on the thorns. And as soon as everyone was downstairs, with the media and everything after the performance, the poison worked its way into his system and killed him."

The gold-eyed young detective stared down Satoshi. "That's another piece of evidence against you. And of course, we can't forget those threatening notes that you sent to Shizuko—they can be processed for fingerprints, to prove that you wrote them."

"But then…" Satoshi finally spoke, "Can you prove that I made the poison that killed Daisuke?"

As if on cue, Kinta broke through the half-opened music room doors, wearing what appeared to be a face mask and a pair of gloves. "Sorry Satoshi, the jig is up," the martial arts expert said, his voice muffled underneath the mask. "After we went to the police with our story, they immediately sent over a team to search for traces of the poison."

Kinta held out a sealed plastic bag marked _EVIDENCE_. "These sure look like the fruits from the poison tree, don't they? And guess what? Footprints are being lifted from the soil around a certain tree a short distance off campus. Wanna bet they're yours?"

There was no escaping it. After a long accusation and a pile of evidence building up against him, there was nothing for it. Satoshi's knees gave way, and he fell to the floor, his hands propping him up weakly.

"Fine…I admit it...it was me…" he whispered. "It was all me…I killed Fumika…and Yui as well…"

He broke down. "It was all me…" he repeated.

Kyu stepped forward. "Only one question remains unanswered, Satoshi. Why did you do it? Was it all because of the inheritance? Did you know what the will contained?"

Satoshi shook his head. "No. I never finished deciphering it. But I knew. I knew that that piece, the Nine Circles of Hell, was really a will. Even before Mr. Sakata read what was called the 'first' will.

"The only annoyance I was having was with Fumika. She didn't know that it was a will, but she was convinced that it was something special, or it had something. I didn't believe her at first—she was so naïve and didn't even know what she was dealing with."

"But the day came, didn't it?" asked Kyu. "She figured out what it meant."

"Yes," Satoshi confessed. "She came to me all excited that evening…"

"_Satoshi! Satoshi, come quick!"_

"_What is it now, Fumika? Everyone else is asleep, you—"_

"_I've figured it out, Satoshi! Come to the music room! Listen!"_

"_That piece is nothing, you idiotic girl, leave me alone to get my sleep—"_

"_I'll drag you if I have to! Just listen! Come with me!"_

"She played part of the piece for me, but I didn't let her finish. I didn't want to know what the will contained…no, rather, I didn't want anyone else but me to know what it contained. If it was in my favor, I would let it be discovered eventually. But if it wasn't…well, you know the rest.

"Minoru would never give up trying to figure out what happened to Fumika, and even though Daisuke was concerned as well, the guy kept his mouth shut. However, I didn't know that Minoru would turn to DDS for help…heh. You've practically explained everything. But the will, now…if anyone should figure it out…I'll just have to accept it, since I won't be a factor anymore…"

"One more question," Shizuko interrupted. "Why didn't you kill me right away? You went through warning messages, et cetera—why didn't you just do it right away? I mean, of course I'm glad to be alive now, but I wonder why you didn't follow your pattern."

Satoshi chuckled. "You don't know, do you? Minoru might have seen it in you as well, although I'll never understand why—heh. I'll tell you why, it's because you look so much like Fumika."

The entire Class Q looked surprised. "What?!" Kinta exclaimed.

Satoshi continued to laugh quietly. "You won't really understand it, but killing you right away was like killing someone who I knew had already died. It was like Fumika refused to leave me, being my first victim and all…and as much as I hate to admit it, I was scared."

Shizuko stole a glance at Minoru, uncertain how she would take this news. The green-eyed violinist nodded in reply. "It's true. I've never mentioned it, but you do look a lot like her. Her hair was longer though, and she was a bit taller, but the likeness is there."

Kazuma coughed behind them. "Excuse me, but I think we're all forgetting something." He opened his laptop, revealing several diagrams and a scanned image of the music sheets of The Nine Circles of Hell.

"The will," said Yamato nervously.

"Yes, the will," said Kazuma, nodding. "If someone would please play it…"

"I will," volunteered Shizuko, rushing to pick up her violin from the corridor outside.

Kazuma bobbed his head in approval. "Whenever you're ready."

It took a few moments, but Shizuko was finally ready. Taking a deep breath, she drew the bow across the strings expertly.

Kazuma, on the other hand, flashed another few diagrams on his computer screen. "As you can see by the way that Shizuko is playing it, the notes form a pattern that's hard to spot. Each bar of music actually creates a letter of the alphabet across the fingerboard."

"Unbelievable!" cried out Satoshi. "I couldn't figure it out…but even then it would have taken me ages to figure out the entire piece…"

"To make it short, I scanned in diagrams of a violinist's positions on the fingerboard, for every note. My computer did the rest," Kazuma went on. He typed out another series of combinations on the keyboard. "The decoded message is right here."

Class Q looked at each other tensely. As Shizuko continued to play, Kazuma dictated the words that everyone in the room had been waiting to hear for so long.

"I know that I do not have long to last, so to ensure that my will shall forever be kept, I leave you my final work, my masterpiece. Do not be deceived by its threatening name. It is my final message, and I wish to address you all when I say that I am proud to have you all as my protégés. My dear students, you have been the greatest joys of my life, and as much as I hate to distinguish one's greatness from the other, there is only one violin, and one school. I hope that the one I have chosen will take on the responsibility like the strong person that I believe he is. As for the others who have not been chosen, please respect him and be willing to work hand-in-hand with him. I love you all, my dear students, and I know you all wish to be the one. I want all of you to inherit my school, but be united under one leader…I chose you, Minoru, my most promising student, to take on this duty."

By the time Kazuma ended the speech, and Shizuko had stopped playing, every single one of the violin students had broken down in tears. Even Satoshi, who had simply remained in his kneeling position for the entire duration of the piece, had tears running down his cheeks.

"I…killed them…" he whispered, lowering himself on his hands. The police, having been motioned into the room by Kinta, stepped forward and handcuffed him securely. He was led away, head bowed down in shame.

* * *

The very next morning, the DDS members began saying their good-byes to the remaining violin students.

"Thank you so much for helping us out," Ms. Minamoto said with a bow. "You finally caught the murderer and put a stop to all the killings."

"I only wish we'd solved it faster," said Meg softly. "We could have prevented more deaths, and more of you could be here to keep the school running."

Kazumi shook her head. "No time for regrets now. And we can't afford to keep dwelling on the past. Now that Minoru has stepped up, Yamato and I will continue to work with him." She bowed her head. "It's what Maestro Maeda would have wanted."

Yamato nodded in agreement, his hand around Kazumi's shoulder. "As sad as it is for us to have our friends killed, we're going to do our best to keep this school running."

Minoru, who had taken longer to appear in the living room, suddenly came forward. "Thank you so much," he said, bowing. "If it hadn't been for all of you, I would never have claimed the inheritance—and the killings wouldn't have stopped."

"It was nothing," said Kyu. "We wish you luck with the school, Minoru."

"Yeah, I hope you get to train more talented violinists," said Kinta.

"Everything rests in your hands now," said Ryuu. "As well as Kazumi's and Yamato's. I hope you take on the responsibility well."

"Thanks. I realize that too," Minoru answered. He looked at Kazumi and Yamato with a smile. "We'll do our best. We'll train harder to hone our craft and become more professional."

"That's good to hear," Shizuko said, smiling at him.

"Yeah, invite us to a concert sometime!" said Kyu, making everyone else laugh lightly.

"We'll be expecting that," added Kazuma with a grin.

They all turned around to leave, but Minoru suddenly called out, "Shizuko, may I have a few words with you, alone?"

Shizuko was startled by the suggestion, and Ryuu looked less than wiling to let her hang around the violin school longer, but their other classmates shrugged and told her to go. She told Ryuu and the others, "This won't take long."

* * *

Minoru took her aside as soon as she came up to him. "Shizuko, I know that you were busy for the short time that you were here, and we didn't have enough time to get to know each other. While I know you're dedicated to being in DDS and all, I wonder if you would ever consider staying here at the school with me, working on our musical talents together."

Shizuko looked at him, confused, and Minoru added, "You're a wonderfully gifted violinist, Shizuko, and I'd like to see more of that talent—as well as get to know you more. What do you say?"

Shizuko sighed and looked at the ground. "Minoru…I can't accept your offer."

"Why not?" he asked, suddenly taking hold of her hands. "You have such great talent! With some training here, you could become world-class—"

"You already know why, Minoru. I'm dedicated to DDS. It was always more of my dream to become a detective, and that calling is more powerful for me than trying to become world-class in my music. I acknowledge my talent in music, and it's something I love. But if I stayed here with you to work on my music, I'd feel terrible every day because I gave up my dream for something else. No matter how great I become, something else will be missing from my heart."

She looked up at him. "That's why I can't accept your offer, Minoru. I'm sorry. I know you're disappointed."

He sighed heavily. "It's all right. I should have expected it anyway." He smiled at her. "Your dedication to the world of crime is amazing, Shizuko. But in any case, I hope that our paths cross again."

Shizuko simply nodded, and he unexpectedly gave her a kiss on the hand before letting her leave.

* * *

"So what did he want?" Meg asked some time later, when Class Q began trekking through the woods to get to town. They would have to take some other transportation back into Tokyo later.

Kazuma looked up. "Yeah, I've been wondering that too. What did Minoru ask you?"

Shizuko shrugged indifferently. "He was offering that I stay at the violin school and undergo further training as a violinist."

"He asked you WHAT?" Kinta suddenly exclaimed, sounding outraged. Ryuu looked rather stunned, staring at Shizuko.

"Stay at the school? But that'd mean you'd move out of DDS! And Tokyo!" Kyu cried out, joining in Kinta's panic.

"Calm down, you two, I didn't accept his offer," Shizuko snapped impatiently. Kinta and Kyu stumbled all over each other in another state of shock and fell face first on the ground.

Meg grinned. "It sounds to me like he wanted something more, Shizuko."

"Most likely he did," Shizuko replied grimly. "But he was asking for too much, asking me to leave DDS and my life just to be a world-class violinist. I had to turn him down."

"But I have to say, you've got talent," Kazuma put in. "Didn't you think that your talent might be wasted if you didn't hone it? And besides, that school's pretty top-class, there's no doubt that you'd get really good if you trained there."

"And give up fooling around with you guys and taking on all these cases?" Shizuko asked him, giving the pint-sized programmer a look. "Are you kidding me, you little squirt?"

"Hey, it was just a thought," Kazuma said, raising his hands in defense.

"But the kid's got a point," added Kinta. "Why are you so willing to give up the chance to study at a really good violin school when you've got talent?"

Shizuko turned on the three boys, looking incredulous. "Are you guys trying to get rid of me?" she asked in disbelief.

"NO!" chorused Kyu, Kinta and Kazuma. Meg burst into giggles.

"We were just curious, that's all," said Kyu meekly.

"And you're about to find out why there's a saying called 'curiosity killed the cat'," she muttered, crossing her arms.

"Oh come on, it was just an innocent question!" protested Kinta.

"Fine. I'll tell you why, I turned down his offer because I'm way too dedicated to DDS. And aside from that, do you really think I'd give up becoming a detective just for a few really good violin lessons?"

She snorted. "Besides, I came way too far already, just getting into DDS and actually getting into a class, I've worked too hard for this opportunity. And to throw it all away for a violin school…I wouldn't feel very good thinking about a dream that I've abandoned."

"Oh," said Kyu, blinking in understanding. He looked thoughtful for a moment, and then broke into a happy smile and turned to Ryuu, who had been walking silently behind the rest of them for the past few moments. "What do you think, Ryuu?" he asked cheerfully.

"Uh?" he said, looking surprised at being addressed. "I'm sorry, I wasn't really listening."

"Well, Shizuko turned down Minoru's offer to stay at the violin school. What do you think about it?"

Kyu always was the innocent one, not even thinking about the implications that his statement would have on others. However, if Ryuu was affected by the announcement, he didn't show it on his face, but said simply, "I'm glad that you didn't abandon DDS, then. Although his offer seemed to come out of the blue."

"That's what I thought," Meg added. "Was there anything else he wanted?"

"He said something about wanting to get to know me better as well, since we didn't have time to socialize while I was on the case," Shizuko finally admitted.

"A-ha!" Kinta cried. "I _knew_ there had to be a hidden agenda!"

"Shut it, Kinta, don't make things more complicated than they already are," Shizuko said edgily.

"Is that why you didn't want to stay?" asked Meg. "You didn't want to get involved?"

"Not really, I just couldn't accept his offer, period. I already told you, what he was offering would make me give up way too much. And that's it."

"Well, that's good," Ryuu suddenly cut in. "I'd hate to see Mr. Hongou's reaction if he finds out that you're leaving class Q for a couple of violin lessons."

"That old plank of wood?" Kinta sneered. "I'm sure he'd be glad to have one less student."

"But he'd be furious at Shizuko's lack of dedication to DDS," Ryuu pointed out.

"Exactly," said Kyu. "Mr. Hongou may be a grump, but he's a good teacher who'd be disappointed if he finds out that one of his students isn't dedicated."

"Yeah, well, I've passed the test then," Shizuko muttered. "Let's head back to the city, everyone. DDS, you'd better be ready for our arrival."

"Yeah!" cried out Kyu, an extra bounce in his step.

With a few laughs, Class Q picked up their pace, eager to get back home.

* * *

"Oi, Shizuko!"  
A dark-haired, older boy was calling from across DDS's front yard. "Shizuko!"

Class Q turned immediately in the direction of the voice. "Who's that?" asked Kyu.

Ryuu wrinkled his brow. The guy was familiar, but he couldn't place where he remembered him.

Kinta tapped Shizuko on the shoulder. "Hey, some random guy's calling you."

Shizuko finally looked up, a dark look suddenly crossing her features. "Katsuhiko…" she muttered under her breath, looking a little steamed.

"Who is that, a friend of yours?" asked Kazuma.

"Oi, sis! When are you ever going to come when I call you?" the tall boy called again.

"_Sis?_" Kyu exclaimed, shocked.

"He's your brother?" Meg asked, looking thoroughly surprised.

"No, he's the old, annoying pet monkey that I wish I never got," Shizuko muttered sarcastically. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." She waved goodbye to all of them and ran across the yard to deal with her brother.

_Of course. Her brother,_ Ryuu thought, finally remembering. _He answered the door when I came to tell Shizuko about Pluto. No wonder he was familiar._

"You don't seem very surprised about this, Ryuu," commented Kyu.

"No, I'm not," he replied. "I've seen her brother before; he answered the door when I came to Shizuko's house to talk to her about some things."

"Oh," said Kyu, still looking clueless.

* * *

"Katsuhiko, why are you here?" Shizuko demanded of her brother, punching him in the arm. "You know that you're supposed to be at home handling dinner or something of the sort!"

"Is it wrong for me to pick up my little sister from her little detective school?" he answered cheekily, bending over and grinning at her mischievously. His blue eyes were slightly closed from smiling, and Shizuko scowled. "_Nii-san_, look all over the campus and you'll see that it isn't little. And anyway, who died and made you my fetcher? I haven't been picked up since I was eleven!"

"Oh come on, this is just for old time's sake," Katsuhiko said, running a hand through his dark hair. "Don't you remember when you were little, I used to pick you up all the time from the elementary school and I'd carry you on my shoulders all the way home?"

"That was until I grew too big for you to carry on your shoulders, genius."

"Who's to say I can't still carry you now?" he retorted.

"I am _fourteen_, you can't carry me—WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU MONKEY?"

Without further ado, Katsuhiko had lifted Shizuko and set her on his broad shoulders. "Who did you say was too big to be carried?"

"PUT ME DOWN!"

"No way, this is fun," he said, grinning.

"KATSUHIKO IF YOU DO NOT PUT ME DOWN I'M GOING TO—AAAH!"

Katsuhiko had decided to trot off without warning, and Shizuko swung off balance on his shoulders. "You little monster," she muttered in annoyance. "First you embarrass me in front of my friends, and now you just decide to carry me off! What's the big idea?"

"There's no dinner at home since there weren't any groceries in the pantry, genius," Katsuhiko offhandedly explained. "I came to take my little sister out to dinner instead. How does fried rice sound to you?"

"You're so cheap, _nii-san_."

"How about going to the nearest ramen house?"

"Don't be so stingy! If you're going to treat me out, make sure it's enough for me to withstand the humiliation that you put me through in front of my friends," she pouted, looking backwards at Class Q, who were standing and waving at her from a distance. She waved back, managing to keep her balance this time.

"All right, all right, I was just kidding. Let's get you one of those meal platter things at that restaurant near the house."

"That's more like it," she said, laughing. "How are you treating me out, anyway? Did you get your pay at your part-time job?"

"Yeah, the boss decided to give it to us early. I have enough to treat you out and then buy groceries to restock the pantry."

"All right, your reasons have been justified as good enough for me to suffer humiliation."

"They always are, sis," he said, grinning widely.

* * *

"They seem pretty close," Kyu grinning, watching along with the rest of Class Q as Shizuko was carried off by the older teen, who they now found out was her brother.

"Yeah. He messes around with her, but he's pretty nice, I guess," said Meg. "My sister and I get along pretty well too, but sometimes she can be such a pain."

"Older siblings are like that, I guess," said Kazuma. "I don't have any, but my classmates are always complaining about their older brothers and sisters and say that they're really bossy."

Kinta looked at his watch. "Well, I've got to go to work now," he said, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"See ya, big boy," Meg grinned, waving.

Kyu beamed, looking pretty happy. "I guess it is kinda late now, we'd all better get going."

An elegant-looking car suddenly drove up next to them, beeping its horn. Kazuma gave them a wave. "My ride's here. I'll see you guys next time!"

That just left Ryu, Kyu and Meg standing in the front yard. Meg smiled at them both, saying, "I have to get home now and help my sister with dinner. Bye for now…"

Kyu suddenly stepped forward. "Hey, Meg, do you want me to walk you home?"

Meg suddenly flushed, looking startled. "Uhhm," she began shyly. "Okay…"

Kyu certainly looked happy. "I'll just see you at home later, eh, Ryu?"

The other boy gave him a small smile and nodded. "Yeah."

They all went their own ways, Kyu walking with Meg, and Ryu striding off to Kyu's house as he was accustomed to.

* * *

On his way there, though, he came across Shizuko and her older brother, looking like they were bickering. Shizuko was still sitting atop her brother's shoulders, practically tearing out his hair by the roots. "_Nii-saaaaaaaan, _you are so stingy!"

"Don't pull at my hair like that; do you know how long it took me to get it fixed today?"

"Do you call this fixed? I'll show you fixed—"

Ryuu unexpectedly let out a snort of laughter, and Shizuko and her brother turned to look in his direction, looking slightly embarrassed. Shizuko did not relinquish her grasp on her brother's locks, however, and merely grinned down at where Ryu was standing. "Hi."

"Hi," he said nonchalantly, nodding in greeting. "I thought the two of you had gone home."

"We were supposed to be eating out, but this brother of mine refuses to take me to anyplace other than the nearest ramen house or take-out fried rice," she said with a pout.

"Well, it saves us more money," Her brother retorted, getting a tug on his hair in response.

"_Nii-saaaan…_"

"Be thankful I'm even treating you out, you shouldn't be eating too much anyway, and you're getting to heavy for me to lift."

"I am NOT heavy! And YOU were the one who decided to carry me, suffer for it, then."

Ryuu coughed to get their attention, and the siblings looked at him again sheepishly.

"Are just the two of you eating out?" he asked, curious. "Where're your parents?"

Shizuko shook her head. "Mom and Dad both hold jobs overseas; they don't come home all that often. So it's just Katsuhiko and me at home."

"Ah, I see. With only the two of you there, I guess that's why you're pretty close."

"Hah, _nii-san_ here is barely home anyway, he's too busy at his college to come home and do some bonding or whatever."

Katsuhiko frowned, almost bothered by what she said, and Shizuko quickly added, "but bah, he's five years older than me and I understand that he's got other things on his mind. Other than that, we're close enough, as far as siblings go," she said, ruffling Katsuhiko's hair for emphasis. Katsuhiko rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

Ryuu sensed a little guilt in Katsuhiko for not being there often enough for his little sister, but he couldn't really tell. But if what Shizuko said was true, and her brother wasn't always home, then that explained why she was so stubborn and independent at times. He remembered how awkward Shizuko seemed to be when it came to asking for help, and thanking people for it, particularly when he'd come after her and her SOS signal.

Shizuko's voice broke into his thoughts. "Well, Ryuu, I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school. Katsuhiko and I still have dinner to settle, and trust me, you don't want to witness any of our antics." She gave him a grin. "See you around!"

"Ah. Yes, I have to get going as well. I'll see you tomorrow. Good bye, then."

Katsuhiko gave him a joking salute in farewell, and marched off with Shizuko in tow. Ryuu watched them for a while, smiling at the relationship that the siblings had. With a sigh, he continued his way down the streets until he reached Kyu's house.

He probably wouldn't admit it, but he was slightly envious of the fact that Shizuko had a sibling—at least she still had a family member to hold on to while her parents weren't around. He didn't have family at all anymore, or at least blood relatives. He was alone, now.

But as he entered the house and Kyu's mother greeted him warmly, like he was her son as well, it gave him a feeling of comfort that rarely ever came to him. And as Kyu finally came home and they all had dinner together, even exchanging a few laughs at the table, Ryuu finally realized something. Being part of a family didn't mean you had to be related by blood—all you needed was for them to accept you for what you were, and to be comfortable around them. He smiled. He wasn't alone in the world after all.

* * *

"Shizuko?"

"Hmm?" she asked, sounding groggy. She and her brother had finally stopped arguing and gotten dinner at a restaurant they could both agree on—not terribly expensive, but the menu was acceptable as well. Katsuhiko was carrying her on his back now, since she was getting too much for his shoulders to handle. She propped her head on his shoulder so she could see him. "What is it?"

"That Ryuu guy we met earlier, he's one of your DDS classmates, right?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"So, what does he see in a hot-tempered girl like you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean, he didn't have to take notice of you earlier, and her certainly didn't have to give you such an elaborate good-bye, so what kind of thing have you guys got? And by the way, don't think that I've forgotten about his visit to our house when you guys were on your last case."

"Are you suggesting that Ryuu and I are in some kind of relationship?" she asked in astonishment.

"Gee, you're the detective, what do _you_ think I'm suggesting?" he asked slyly.

"_Nii-saaaaaaaan_," she said in a warning tone.

"What, he seems to be your type."

"He is so not my type!"

"Your face is growing warm."

"It is not!"

"I knew it! Time for a confession, little sis."

"I do not like Ryuu!"

"So _you_ say."

"_Nii-san_!"

And they were bickering again, all the way down the street and into their home. They the kept at it until finally, Shizuko tossed her sneaker directly at his head, and that shut him up for the time being. That is, until bedtime came and he began teasing her again as he popped his head through her bedroom door in for his usual good-night.

Shizuko tossed her pillow at him, but it bounced harmlessly against the door and fell to the floor. She grumbled as her brother laughed down the hallway, and then it faded away as well as he reached his room and shut the door.

She got out of bed and picked up the pillow she'd been attempting to use as a weapon. Fluffing it a little, she placed it under her head and closed her eyes for a well-deserved sleep.

"Stupid brothers," she muttered before dropping off into slumber.

**-:owari:-**

* * *

**rants: God, I'm so sorry it took me almost a year to finish this fanfic. I solemnly swear that the next time I write one, it will not take this long. (I hope.)**

**How'd you like the way I ended it? Did the person you suspect before turn out to be the culprit? Heheheh. Thanks so much for putting up with me and my slow work. And any suggestion you can make so I can improve my style of writing? (aside from my being slow of course) I'd appreciate any comment.**

**FINALLY the Nine Circles of Hell is over! You can all move on with your lives now. **

**Don't forget: PLEASE REVIEW!**


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